Avengers GX
by Avenger2013
Summary: Davis Eitoku: The Boy with the Avengers Deck. With help from new friends, Dual Academy got nuthin on him! Disclaimer: I only own the two OC's and the cards and their effects. Some of the scene are from Fenikkusumaru while others are from other people. So the credits go to them.
1. Chapter 1: The Day for a New Beginning

Chapter 1: The Day for a New Beginning

Domino City is the home to some of the world's most famous duelists of Duel Monsters: Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, and most of all, the King of Games: Yugi Moto. It's also home to the Kaiba Dome where students from all over were applying to go to the prestigious Duel Academy. This is the part where our story begins.

A silver motorcycle was coming up on to the parking lot of the Kaiba Dome and the driver parked his motorcycle and stopped the engine. The driver removed his helmet revealing to be a teenager who is about 16-17 years old, has black hair in a buzz cut style and has hazel eyes. He was wearing a black biker's leather jacket and under it was a plain purple shirt. He also wore light–blue denim jeans, with a belt that held his deck of cards, white socks, and black Sketchers Shape-Ups while carrying a backpack that carried something bulky.

"Alright, everyone. Let's show these guys at Duel Academy what we're made of." The boy smirked as he looked at his deck box.

_"Yeah (Pika)!"_ Several phantom voices called out at once. Yeah, Davis also gifted with the power to see Duel Monster spirits, which means that he's that special. Which ones you ask? Just wait. A few minutes later, he proceeded to the Kaiba Dome arriving at the desk, where people are signing up to be tested to see if they had what it takes to be at Duel Academy. Davis came up to the desk with a woman sitting behind it.

"Greetings. How may I help you?" He asked.

"My name is Davis Eitoku and I'm here to apply for Duel Academy." The boy answered.

The woman took a clipboard from her desk and checked the list carefully. "Ah, here you are. Davis Eitoku." the woman nodded. "Just head inside and when they call you, head to the arena."

"Thank you, sir." Davis nodded respectfully and went to proceed inside the building.

Once inside, he saw a lot of students and examinees around. Some who already finished their exams were already wearing red, yellow, and blue blazer jackets, the blue blazers jackets having coat tails on the bottom. "Wow." Davis thought to himself. He also noticed other people wearing clothes other than the red, yellow, and blue jackets. "They must be the ones that applied and finished too."

Down below, Davis noticed a duel going on duel between a boy about a year younger than him wearing a grayish–white school uniform and a dueling proctor. On the field in front of the proctor were two monsters in defense mode. Gear Golem the Moving Fortress and Big Shield Gardna. The monster opposite of them was a Vorse Raider and there was also a face down card in the Spell/Trap Card Zone.

"Alright, newbie. Multiple choice; you have two monsters staring ya down, do you A: throw in the towel, B: beg for mercy, or C: run home to yo mamma?" The proctor asked.

"I'll go with D: none of the above!" The boy with dark hair announced before pressing a button on his duel disk. "I choose to activate my trap card. You see, with Ring of Destruction I can destroy any monster in attack position and we both take damage equal to its attack points."

A ring of red bombs appeared around the Vorse Raider's neck and exploded on impact.

**Proctor: 0**

**Boy: 1300**

"Smart move." He said. "Welcome to the Academy."

"Thank you." The boy bowed.

'Nice.' Davis thought.

Up in the stands, he saw three boys wearing Obelisk Blue Academy blazers who also watched the duel as well. "Wow, that guy's pretty good huh, Chazz?" The boy with blue hair and glasses said.

"Guess the rumors about him being some whiz kid were true, huh Chazz?" The boy on the other side said.

"He's a punk." The person in the middle called Chazz scoffed. "We went to Duel prep school for the past three years. We're ready for the Academy. These kids don't know what they're getting into. But they'll learn… the hard way, the Chazz Princeton way."

_'Chazz Princeton, huh? With an attitude like that, I might have to change your tune when we duel.'_ Davis thought.

**"Davis Eitoku, please report to Dueling Field #1. I repeat, Davis Eitoku. Dueling Field # 1."** A voice over the PA announced.

"I got to go." Davis said to himself as he headed over to his assigned field.

Meanwhile, in another part of the dome, a short, a light blue–haired boy also got finished watching the last duel as another teenager with brown hair commented on it. "Wow, that guy really tore it up." He said.

"Yeah, Bastion Misawa; they said he got a perfect score on his written exams out of all of us new applicants." The light–blue haired boy said.

"Wow really? I barely made it through mine. Oh yeah, name's Jaden!"

"My name's Syrus, nice to meet ya." Syrus then looked somewhat nervous. "I kinda have a thing where I get test anxiety. So I don't know how I won my duel."

"So you're in! Congratulations!" Jaden praised patting Syrus on the back. "I will be too as soon as I have my duel."

"Wait, you mean you haven't dueled yet?" Syrus asked shocked.

"Nope. Why?" Jaden replied.

" The last duel is the one after Bastion's." Syrus explained.

"WWWWHHHAAATTT?!" Jaden exclaimed.

Davis rose up from an elevated platform wearing a duel disk. It was the standard Kaiba Corp. Duel Disk. In front of him was a African-American man wearing the purple blazer with a coat tail. It was one of the proctors.

"Alright, applicant. Name?" The proctor asked.

"Davis Eitoku." He replied back respectfully.

"Alright then Davis, you know the rules: you win, you're in. If not, better luck next year." The proctor said strapping up his duel disk.

"Oh, I'll be in this year. I just know it." Davis smirked as he took out his deck out of his deck box. "It's morphin' time!" he shuted as he inserted his deck in the deck slot and the duel disk went from standby to active.

"It's morphin' time?" Alexis wondered. "What's he talking about?"

"I don't know," Zane replied, "Never expected an applicant to come with a gimmick."

"Uh… okay?" The Proctor said getting a bit freaked out.

"Sorry. I just always wanted to say that." Davis chuckled, which caused most people, except the Proctor, Jaden and Zane, to backflip anime style.

"Well… ok, then." The Proctor got out. "So… shall we get started?"

"Sure, sure." Davis said. Both duelists drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Davis: 4000**

**Proctor: 4000**

"Since you're the one applying, you have the first move." The Proctor offered.

"Thanks. Don't mind if I do. Draw!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. He looked at his hand and smiled at what he got. "Nice… Alright, for my first move, I'll summon Ben 10 in ATK mode!" Kurogasa declared placing his card on the tray. At that point, a teenage boy wearing a black shirt with a green stripe in the middle with a 10, brown pants with pockets at the knees and green and white shoes appears. He also has a weird green and white watch on his left wrist (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500).

"Huh?" The Proctor blinked. "I've never seen that card before."

"No one has. I know. I'm using a Deck with cards that just recently came out. It's called the Avengers Deck, but that's all I can say because I would rather show you how they work right now. ", Davis explained.

Zane Truesdale and Alexis Rhodes looked down at the beginning duel between a proctor and an applicant. Both were idly casting glances, but when the applicant had summoned his first monster, both were trained on the new monster and the one controlling it.

"Avengers?" asked Alexis. "I never heard of them before."

"If what he says is true, then probably, like he said, no one has." Zane reasoned. "Doesn't look much, but there is probably more to them than meets the eye."

"Hey Chazz," one of the boys in blue asked one Chazz Princeton as they watched the duel. "Ever heard of Avengers before?"

"Must be a new set or something," Chazz shrugged. "Who cares? Let the rejects duel with what they want."

"Still, maybe there's something about them we don't know?" Another one of Chazz's friend's stated.

'A new deck of never before seen monsters, hmm?' Bastion thought, showing a thoughtful emotion. 'That would certainly give him the edge…' he added as he sat down in a seat to where Jaden and Syrus were.

"Wonder where he got them." Syrus wondered.

"That sounds pretty sweet!" Jaden said excited. He then noticed Bastion sitting next to them. "Hey there, Bastion. Awesome duel out there!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Thank you." Bastion said politely.

"From the looks of things, you could be the second best duelist here!" Jaden said, confusing Bastion. "And that guy's probably gonna be the third best since you already got the second best position. Who is he anyway?"

"Davis Eitoku." Bastion answered. "I've heard he has the third highest score in the written exam."

"Guys, talk later!" Syrus jumped in, turning their attention back to the duel.

_"Alright, I've been itching to get into a fight!"_ Ben 10 said.

"Well, you'll have to wait for now, Ben, because I went first." Davis said.

_"What! Why did you do that?"_ Ben complained turning to Davis. _"You know I hate it when you summon me on your first turn! You should've gone second!"_

"Relax, man. You'll get to attack soon." Davis assured him.

_"Fine…"_ Ben then turned around to face his opponent. _"Hope you can at least activate my special ability."_

_'That guy can talk to his Monsters too?'_ Jaden thought.

"Before I end my turn, I activate Ben 10's special ability! By sending him back to my Deck, I can special summon an "Omnitrix" monster from my Hand or Deck! And I know what I'm gonna bring out." Davis said as motioned his head at his monster. Ben knew what he meant and he motioned back as turned to his watch, which is called the Omnitrix, and, after scrolling down some images and stopping on one, he shouts, **"It's Hero Time!"** as he pressed the faceplate and was engulfed in a bright green light. Once it died down, a dinosaur-like being in a black and white suit with wheels on his feet and an Omnitrix symbol on the chest was in his place; this is one of Ben's alien forms XLR8(4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000). "Meet XLR8!" announced Davis.

_"Ok, all is forgiven"_ Ben (as XLR8) said. _"Least you got me a good alien to use."_

"That monster can change forms too? Oh, well. Let's just see if you can beat me," the Proctor stated. "It's my turn! I draw!" The Proctor drew a card and added it to his hand. Taking a card from the other side, he continued. "I summon Red Gadget in ATK mode!" On the field, a red and silver machine appeared. Its body consisted of gears (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500). "Now, Red Gadget's effect activates. When it is Normal Summoned, I can add a Yellow Gadget from my Deck to my Hand." The proctor took out his deck from his duel disk and searched through it. He then showed Davis the card to prove it and then shuffled the deck. "Lastly, I put two cards face down and end my turn. You're up, kid."

"My turn! Draw!" Davis declared and drew his next card. "Alright, let's have another one come out. Or should I say two, because I'm gonna activate the card Double Summon in order to summon two monsters instead of one. So come out Wild Thing and Monkey D. Luffy!" At that point, two people appeared next to XLR8 on each side.

On the left is a girl wearing a striped undershirt and black pants who sort of look like Megan Fox, except for the part where she growled and unsheathed two metal claws from each of her hands, showing that she's ready to fight (4/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1400).

On the right is a teenage boy in a red vest, blue shorts, and a straw hat. He also has a scar under his left eye and above his grin (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1700).

_"About time you got here."_ XLR8 said.

_"Better late than never, Bub."_ Wild Thing said.

_"Yeah! At least the three of us are here and we are ready to go!"_ Monkey D. Luffy stated.

"Well said, Luffy. Alright Ben, now you can attack first! Take out Red Gadget!" Davis said.

_"Right,"_ XLR8 said as he ran in superspeed as he charged at Red Gadget.

"I activate my face down, Waboku!" The face down card on the left flipped up and showed a magenta card with a picture of three women in holy robes on it. "Until the end of this turn, I receive no damage and none of my monsters are destroyed. That was good try though kid." The three robed women appeared and XLR8 stopped in his tracks.

_"Hey! Move out of the way!"_ Luffy demanded.

_"No use, Luffy. We can't touch life points with that trap activated this turn."_ XLR8 stated as he

ran back to Davis' side of the field.

_"Damn"_ muttered Wild Thing as she stood in her place.

"I'll end my turn there."

"It's my turn." The Proctor drew a card and stared at it. "First off I activate my Double Summon. So first off I summon Yellow Gadget!" Next to Red Gadget, a similar looking monster appeared, except the color scheme was yellow (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200). "Now his effect activates. When Yellow Gadget is summoned, I can add one Green Gadget from my Deck to my Hand."

Once again the Proctor looked through his deck and got his card. He then shuffled it and returned it to his duel disk. After that the Proctor grabbed another card in his hand. "Now I summon Machina Gearframe in ATK mode!" Next to the other two machines was a skinny orange and silver robot with an overly large orange helmet (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 0). "Now I'll use his effect to add one Machina monster to my Hand from my Deck, and I choose Machina Fortress."

After adding the card to his hand, the Proctor said, "Next I equip Gearframe to my Yellow gadget." The orange machine attached itself to Red Gadget, similar to that of a screw into a bolt. "Lastly I put one card face down and end my turn."

_'He's got something planned. I know it. And that facedown would probably help him too.'_ Kurogasa thought. "It's my turn!" Davis declared and drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck." Davis drew his two cards. "Now, Luffy, attack Red Gadget with Gum Gum Pistol!"

As the attack had been declared, Luffy then charged forward and prepared his attack, shouting, **"GUM GUM PISTOL!"**

"Not so fast! I activate my Trap Card, Dimensional Prison! This banishes your attacking monster!" the Proctor shouted as he revealed one of his face downs.

"That won't work. Luffy's immune to Trap cards!" Davis countered.

"What!?"

The straw hat boy struck, with his arm stretched at an abnormal length as his fist slammed into Red Gadget and the trap card, destroying them in the process. "Guh!" Wind blew the Proctor back when the explosion occurred.

**Davis: 4000**

**Proctor: 3400**

"I'm not done yet! Laura, do your thing!" Davis told the girl with the metal claws. Wild Thing nodded her head, giving off a startling growl before jumping into the air. She then unsheathed two more metal claws, one from each foot as she was about to attack. When she came down, Wild Thing sliced and diced at the Proctor's monster. A large explosion occurred afterwards.

**Davis: 4000**

**Proctor: 3100**

When the smoke cleared it showed that Yellow Gadget was still standing, but lying next to it was a broken Machina Gearframe.

_"What happened?"_ Luffy asked, scratching his head in the process. _"I thought the attack hit!"_

"When a Union monster is equipped to a monster on the field, it is destroyed instead of the monster it is equipped to," the Proctor informed the straw hat guy. Even though he said that, the Proctor felt odd talking to a hologram. He just chalked it up to the boy knowing ventriloquism.

"It doesn't matter Luffy," Davis interrupted. "Ben, destroy that thing!"

XLR8 charged at superspeed towards the little yellow machine. He did an array of kicks before doing an uppercut slash, destroying the monster.

"And once it's done, he can attack again!" Davis shouted as XLR8 whipped his tail hard on the Proctor.

**Davis: 4000**

**Proctor: 300**

_"Nailed it! Almost done!"_ XLR8 shouted.

"Just one facedown and I end my turn." he informed the Proctor.

"Oh man, he's good." Syrus said with amazement.

The Proctor stood up straight and shook off the attack. "Good, now I draw!" He announced. After drawing his card he showed it to the boy. "I activate Pot of Greed, which like you know lets me draw two more cards." Drawing again, the Proctor smiled slowly. "First I use the effect of my Machina Fortress! By sending monsters whose levels add up to 8 from my Hand I can Special Summon it onto the field." The man discarded a card and special summoned yet another machine. This time it was a three wheeled tank machine. It was blue in color and had two mechanical hands on each side with a large cannon on the left side. (7/ATK: 2500/DEF: 1600)

"Next I use Monster Reborn! This lets me summon a monster from either graveyard, and I choose the monster that I just sent there! Come forth, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!" The stone floor broke open and out flew an old looking machine. It was made up of several gears that seemed rusted and it was in the shape of a dragon. (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2000)

Several of the students watching gasped. "Hey, did you know that they had that card in one of the proctor's test decks?" Alexis asked Zane. The older boy stared at the battlefield without saying a word, intent on finding out the potential of the boy on the battlefield.

"My word!" Bastion gasped.

"You're telling me!" Syrus added. "That's one big dragon!"

"Dragon, destroy Monkey D. Luffy while Fortress attacks XLR8!"

The large dragon flew up into the sky and fired down a beam of grey energy. The attack hit its mark, and Luffy was destroyed.

**Davis: 2900**

**Proctor: 300**

The machine next to it gathered energy into its cannon and fired it. XLR8 was destroyed, but in his place was his normal human self, Ben 10. "When an "Omnitrix"monster is destroyed, Ben 10 comes back!" Davis explained. "And yet, I still take damage."

**Davis: 2400**

**Proctor: 300**

"Looks like this duel is over soon." Chazz said smugly. "That kid ain't nothing special."

"And since we're at Main Phase 2, I'll activate the Spell, Lightning Vortex! By discarding one from my hand, I can destroy all Monsters on your side of the field!" A vortex of lightning appeared and swallowed up Ben and Wild Thing, destroying them into pixels.

"Ben! Laura!" Davis cried.

"Aw man, not only his only Monsters were destroyed, his field is wide open." Syrus said with worry.

"Relax. I'm sure he's got this." Jaden assured him. "He just has to draw the right card."

"And the probability of that is 50/50." Bastion added.

"I end my turn." The proctor noticed that Davis had his head down and was taking a couple of breaths. "Hey, you know you can always try next year." But then the proctor started to hear laughter and Davis brought his head up.

"Sorry. I'm gonna attend this Academy and I'll win to do so!" Davis said drawing his next card. He looked at it, his hand, and his facedown card. He then smirked a bit before saying…

**"THIS IS IT!"**

The people watching the duel and the proctor himself were a bit surprised and murmured amongst themselves when they heard him.

"What's it?" Jaden and Syrus wondered.

"Does he have the duel won already?" Bastion wondered.

"He's bluffing." Chazz scoffed. "There's not a card in his hand to help that rookie…"

"He seems a little cocky to declare a last move." Zane said.

"That or maybe he has the cards to do it now…" Alexis stated.

"First I'll summon Bartman OOO in ATK mode!" A Filipino man with a red shirt, blue jeans, a graphic black jacket and black sneakers appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. The silhouetted man then took out three, one red, yellow, and green. The red coin had a picture of a hawk, the yellow coin, a tiger, and the green coin, a grasshopper. He inserted the coins in the slots, and took a scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. "Let's Ride!"

**HAWK! TIGER! GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor.

The helmet was mainly black, save for the red faceplate which looked like a hawk with its wings spread out in flight. On his forehead and acting as the hawk's beak was a red crystal and his head had green lens eyepieces. Running from his chin and down his neck was a red line that was connected to the top portion of the image on his chest. The torso armor had rounded shoulders that had yellow lines on them. Yellow lines ran down his arms and into the yellow gauntlets decorated with what looked like folded claws on the forearm. Lastly the legs were minimally covered with segmented green armor not unlike that of a grasshopper's legs, connected by green lines to the lower section of the crest. (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000)

"Next I activate the Spell, OOO Roulette!" Davis said next playing a card depicting an array of various different colored Medals. "Here's how it works: I roll a die, and OOO will gain a new form depending on the roll. So let's do this! Go, dice roll!" He yelled. A huge die came out of the card and dropped to the ground. It rolled, for a few seconds until it landed on a 4. "Nice! It landed on a 4! With that, I can Special Summon Bartman OOO – TaJaDor Form! And I'll special summon him from my Deck! Do your thing, Bart!" Bartman OOO, or Bart as he is known to his friends, turned around to Davis and nodded before turning back. He took out the yellow and green coins and replaced them with two new red ones. One red coin has a picture of a peacock, and the other new red coin, a condor. OOO then scanned the medals.

**HAWK! PEACOCK! CONDOR! TAJADOR!**

**TA~JA~DOR!**

BGM: Time Judged All

OOO became surrounded by spinning colored Medals by the spinning medals again. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Peacock was in the middle, and Condor was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor.

A blazing aura burst from OOO's body as the armor formed on his body and once it had completely formed. The Hawk Head helmet had turned into the Great Hawk Helm with a more detailed design on the helmet to resemble a bird's head with the yellow beak being a gemstone. The wing–like attachments to the helmet had become bigger and the eyes had turned red. Then there were the Peacock Arms where the shoulder blades were winged and equipped with a shied-like weapon called the Taja Spinner. And equipped to his legs were the Condor Leg armor. The sides of his thighs were decorated with crimson fabric which held the image of feathers when looked upon. The shin armor spread out just below the knees in more wing–like decoration. His feet though had a single yellow blade rising from the red armor over his feet with two similar blades coming from either side of his ankles. The O–Lung Circle crest was surrounded by a golden ring which sported a red emblem that resembled a phoenix (8/ATK: 2600/DEF: 2400). Everyone looked in awe.

"He just used random chance to summon a monster," Bastion stated. "I haven't heard of cards like this since Duke Devlin playing the game."

"I never heard of a card like that," Syrus noted.

"What difference does it make, he's got one butt–kicking monster," Jaden exclaimed, "I feel sorry for the Proctor."

"He did know it was the final turn," Alexis mused, "The Proctor cannot get out of this one."

"Impressive, it's still not enough to beat my dragon." The Proctor said.

"You sure about that?" Davis asked making the Proctor looked confused. "I activate the card I drew!" He said flipping the card over to show. "Megamorph!" Everyone gasped at this.

"No way!" Chazz exclaimed with his eye pupils small.

"Great Scott! He's won this duel!" Bastion gasped with his eyes the same as Chazz.

"Now I'll halve your Dragon's ATK points, since my Life Points are lower than yours. A bright red aura glowed around the Dragon as its power is halved.

Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon (8/ATK: 3000–1500/DEF: 2000)

"Now to finish this off, Bart, take out his Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon with Prominence Drop!" Grabbing the scanner from his side, he swiped it across the Medals and three chiming noises were made.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

He crossed his wrists in front of him and spread his arms to the side. Red, bird–like wings spread out from his back and took off into the air. Once high enough, he dove down a the mechanical dragon. Zooming closer, the armor on his legs ignited into red flames. He flipped over so that my feet would hit the dragon, and kept his knees bent. As he moved, the leg armor on the sides of his legs and down to his ankles flipped up so that the ankle talons were pointed forward. With the talons on his toes where they were, it looked like his legs had transformed into a pair of flaming bird talons.

**"SEE–YAAAH!"**

He reached the dragon and impacted it with his talons with as much force as gravity and speed allowed him to do. The force rocked the mechanical dragon, sending them to the ground. The ground came up incredibly fast and the dragon hit first, exploding.

**Davis: 2400**

**Proctor: 0**

BGM Ends

The holograms disappeared and the Proctor recovered from the last attack and stood up saying, "Congratulations applicant. Welcome to Duel Academy."

"Thank you." Davis bowed.

"No way…" Chazz growled. "A guy with made–up cards won?"

"Alright, he won!" Syrus cheered.

"Sure did, that proctor got nailed hard!" Jaden grinned.

"At least there's proper competition coming along." Bastion smiled, impressed with the duelist's victory.

"This guy is interesting," Alexis smiled, "He should be a good opponent…"

"Only time will tell." Zane said.

Davis turned around to see the crowd and they were stunned. If it was from the last attack Davis made or the Final Assault declaration, he doesn't know, but he definitely got a lot of people's attention, including this one girl whom he noticed in the crowd. Hard to say, but she kind of resembled Deena from Jersey Shore, whom is Davis' favorite celebrity/ celebrity crush.

_'Man, I'm gonna love Duel Academy.'_ He thought, planning to get with that girl as well. Just then, Bartman OOO appeared in spirit form.

_"You did good, Davis."_ Bart said. _"You've impressed everyone."_

"Well, you're the one that did an impressive attack, Bart." Davis chuckled quietly so the people won't hear him like he's talking to himself.

_"True, true, but I think you really deserve the credit."_

"I guess so…" Davis shrugged. He then headed back to the stands as Bartman OOO disappeared.

Right below them, in the VIP seats for Academy faculty members, the teachers watched as Kurogasa left the dueling arena. "Looks like we've got a pretty good crop this year." One of them said.

"Yes, indeed." Another teacher agreed.

Also right next to them, another teacher sat there silent not paying attention to the other teachers' talk. He's male, but could easily be mistaken as a woman if you didn't know who he was. He wore a blue blazer similar to Chazz but had some gold shoulder plates and trimmings along with a ruffled pink collar. He also had his blonde hair in a ponytail and wore makeup. This was Dr. Vellian Crowler, headmaster of the Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm.

_'Another rookie for the Academy.'_ He thought dismissively. _'I'm just glad that this was the last duel, otherwise there could be more slackers coming in, too.'_

He was about to get up and leave when…

"I'm sorry to interrupt." A man in a black, business suit appeared stopping Crowler from leaving. "But one last applicant has arrived to take his exam, Mr. Crowler."

"Excuse me? Did you just call me, 'mister'?" Crowler scowled.

"I'm sorry. I'm new here Miss…"

"I have a Ph.D. in dueling to earn the title 'Doctor' thank you!" Crowler snapped a bit. He then looked away. "Now tell the truant that he'll have to come back next year." The other teachers looked at him like he lost his mind.

"Come on, Dr. Crowler, we have time for one more."

"Yes, let's give this duelist his shot."

"He was just a bit late, that's all."

"LATE IS RUDE!" Crowler finally snapped. He slammed his hands down, freaking out the other people around him. "I HAVE NO TIME FOR SLACKERS!" Just then his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it "WHAT!?"

"It's Sheppard."

"Oh, Chancellor Sheppard, how nice of you to call." Crowler said, suddenly changing his angry tone to a pleasant one.

"Just calling to make sure everything is running smoothly." Chancellor Sheppard said. "We wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last year." That made Crowler bug out a bit. "When you cut a third of our student applicants because someone called you 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.'? Never mind, just make sure everyone gets a fair shot!"

"Yes, o–of course, sir." Crowler said as he hung up scowling. 'Furry–chinned windbag; doesn't he realize that there are enough talentless flunkies at this Academy? But he's the boss, and if he wants to give this scrim shaker a duel…fine.' He then got up from his seat. "Pardon me, gentlemen, I'll be right back." He said then starting walking away.

"But sir, who will be the boy's dueling proctor? And which exam deck should we use?"

Crowler just huffed and walked away. "Leave that to me." He pulled out a deck from inside his blazer, grinning evilly.

Back with Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion, they were waiting around until Davis showed up.

"Hey man, that was one sweet duel!" Jaden said excited running up to Davis.

"Thanks." Davis said. "Name's Davis Eitoku."

"Jaden Yuki!" He said and the boys shook hands.

"I'm Syrus Truesdale." The light–blue haired introduced.

"And I'm Bastion Misawa, the duelist that went before you went to duel."

"Nice to meet you guys." Davis said back.

"By the way, those cards you showed were sweet and especially how you knew it was the final turn when you drew that last card!"

"Yes, I wonder how you knew exactly that." Bastion added.

"Well, after looking at my hand on the turn and can see without a doubt I can win with either one card or more, that's when I know." Davis shrugged.

"I see." Bastion said.

**"Jaden Yuki, please report to Dueling Field # 4."** The PA announced again. **"Jaden Yuki, to Dueling Field # 4."**

"Go time!" Jaden said as he got ready to go. "Wish me luck, guys."

"Wait! Before you go, what did you mean by me being the second best duelist and Davis being the third best? Who's the first?" Bastion asked.

Jaden pointed his thumb to himself. "This guy!" He grinned. He then continued his stride down to the exam floor.

"Third–best?" Davis asked confused looking at Bastion.

"It's a long story." Bastion answered.

"Jaden sure is confident though." Syrus noticed.

"He's going to need to be." Bastion said, pointing to the exam field in question. "Look who's he up against…" Bastion, Syrus, and Davis looked to see the ponytailed Headmaster.

"Who's she?" Davis asked.

"He is Dr. Crowler; he's in charge of these exams and also the head of the top dorm in the Academy." Bastion replied.

"That's a guy?!" Davis gasped. _'Maybe he may be a transvestite. Hehehehe.'_ He jokingly thought to himself.

"Yes. And I've heard that last year, he cut a third of the applicants they called him either 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.'."

"Oh crap."

"It's about to start." Syrus said gaining their attention.

On the field, Dr. Crowler was being prepped and ready to duel. The duel disk he was equipped with looked as though it was crafted into his blazer. The part that held his graveyard and deck slots was strapped to his chest, while the duel tray looked as though it was being held up like a guitar. In fact, the duel tray itself looked almost like a rock guitar itself. Jaden rose up from a platform and was on the duel field

"Alright, test time!" Crowler said looking at Jaden. "So, son, your name?"

Jaden stood at attention like a soldier and replied, "Uh… Jaden, Jaden Yuki."

"Well 'Uh, Jaden Yuki', I'm Doctor Vellian Crowler, Department Chairman and Techniques Professor here at Duel Academy."

"Wow." Jaden said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hearty laugh. "A Department chairman, I had no idea. From the way you were dressed I thought you were some kind of Academy mascot." Crowler sweat dropped at that comment.

"Now that he mentions it," The boy wearing glasses next to Chazz said.

"This guy's got some lip, huh Chazz?" The other said.

Chazz just looked on as he didn't like what Jaden was saying to Dr. Crowler.

"Duel Vest On!" Crowler said activating it and drew his five cards. Jaden was just amazed by the machinery.

"Hey, that's some sweet gear, teach. How do I get one of those?" Jaden asked.

"Oh, a lot of hard work, high marks and dedication." Crowler answered. _'Of course, you have to be accepted first, which I will make sure you don't.'_

"Well, I'm ready!" Jaden said activating his duel disk.

"So let's duel!" Both players shouted as both players drew their starting hands.

Crowler: 4000

Jaden: 4000

"Here goes!" Jaden said as he drew his first card and looked at his hand. "Sweet, I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in DEF mode!" As he placed the card horizontally on the field, a green feathered man with a pair of wings appeared and knelt down (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). "I'll also throw down a facedown." A reverse card appeared on the field.

"Huh… so he runs Elemental Heroes." Davis stated. "Those cards are hard to use properly."

"Alright, get your game on!" Jaden said excitedly.

"Yes, of course." Dr. Crowler said dismissively as he drew his sixth card. 'Don't tell me what to do.' He then took a look at his hand. 'After all, since I'm using my own personal deck rather than those puny test ones, I'll be calling all the shots. I'll fail that miserable little brat and send him home in no time flat.' "I think I'll start out nice and easy, by playing the Spell Card, Confiscation!"

"Okay, so what's it do?" Jaden asked.

"What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life points to take a look at your hand and toss one of your cards to the graveyard." As his explanation finished, holographic images of Jaden's cards appeared. They were Monster Reborn, The Warrior Returning Alive, Hero Signal, and Polymerization.

Crowler: 3000

Jaden: 4000

"Ah yes, I remember some of these when I was a naïve rookie. Now which one shall I banish?" He asked looking at each card. "I know, Monster Reborn to the graveyard!" Jaden's Monster Reborn card was sent there. "Next I'll set two cards face down." Two reverse cards appeared on the field. "And last, but not least, I play Heavy Storm! This spell card destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field." A heavy wind picked up and Jaden's facedown was destroyed along with Crowler's two facedown cards.

"Whoopsie, did you forget that you had two cards on the field as well?" Jaden said teasingly.

"Now, now, young scholar, you mustn't speak out–of–turn." Crowler waggled his finger. After that dark clouds began to form around his side of the field.

"Hey, what's happening?"

"Nothing's happening. Not yet anyway!" Crowler grinned. Two yellow worm–like creatures appeared on his side of the field. "But that's about to change."

The audience was awestruck by these two monsters but Syrus was confused, again. "Could someone tell me what's happening?"

"Those two trap cards that Dr. Crowler had out on the field were called Statue of the Wicked." Bastion explained as he observed the duel with Syrus. "It's a special trap card that creates a vicious monster token when it's destroyed by a card effect. That's why he played Heavy Storm."

"And I'm already seeing a few red lights on this too." Davis grimaced. "That ain't no test deck Crowler's using. Test decks don't have cards like Heavy Storm and Confiscation. Those are rare cards."

"Of course! And they can change the tide of battle without any serious costs!" Bastion realized.

"Which means…..?" Syrus asked.

"Crowler's probably using his personal deck." Davis answered. "This guy doesn't want Jaden to enter the Academy."

And he wasn't the only one who came to the same conclusion.

"Crowler must be using his own deck in this duel." The boy with glasses said.

"Then this duel is over. No one can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler." The other boy said.

"I think I'm going to enjoy Crowler wiping the floor with that kid. I just wish they treated all the other second–rate duelists that apply at this academy the same way."

"What an elitist snob." Alexis said, "Bullying some kid with his very best cards."

"You're too soft, Alexis." Zane spoke up. "I just hope we get to see that legendary rare card Crowler had stashed in that deck of his."

"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler asked Jaden.

"You bet! I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!" Jaden laughed excitedly.

Crowler simply regarded it negatively. "Yes, well I am quite the teacher, thank you." His monsters then started to glow and started writhing in flames. "And now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" The worm-like creatures disappeared and a giant robotic monster with exposed working gears appeared. The audience members were in awe of the sight of the monster. (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 3000)

"That's it, that's his legendary card!" Alexis gasped.

"Now it looks like we're about to find out what makes it so legendary." Zane added.

"I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." Crowler said sarcastically towards Jaden.

"No way, I've always wanted to take one on!" Jaden said excited. He looked like he had Christmas and his birthday in one day.

This shocked many people in the arena, including Syrus. "Either Jaden's really brave or he's nuts!"

"He could be both." Davis added and checked again. "Yep. Definitely both."

"He's staring down that legendary rare monster like he doesn't have a care in the world." Zane said incredulously. "I guess youth and inexperience does have its benefits after all."

"Give it a rest, Zane." Alexis said. "At least the kid's showing some backbone."

"There won't be much to show after this."

Dr. Crowler cackled as he ordered, "Golem attack, Mechanized Melee!" His Ancient Gear Golem's red eye glowed slightly before pulling back its fist and punched Jaden's Avian to pieces.

"Oh man, Jaden's defense monster didn't stand a chance!" Syrus complained. "It's ATK points were way too low. This doesn't look good."

"And it's about to look a whole lot worse." Bastion added. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a Monster in DEF mode, the difference between its ATK points and the defending monster's DEF points are dealt to the opponent as Damage."

"But that would mean that Jaden's Life Points are gonna take a hit!" Syrus realized.

"Yeah, and Piercing Damage is a pain in the ass when it's used against ya." Davis muttered. A transparent version of Ancient Gear Golem's fist then slammed through Jaden's body.

Crowler: 3000

Jaden: 2000

Crowler noticed that Jaden's body was shaking. "Now don't feel bad." He taunted, "This is the top dueling school in the country, some people simply aren't…" Crowler's voice trailed off as he then started hearing Jaden laughing."

"Now I really wanna come to this school now! You really know your stuff teach!" Jaden said excitedly.

This took Crower by surprise before scowling angrily. _'Doesn't he take a hint? He will not be permitted to pass this exam! And he will certainly not make a mockery of my deck!'_

_'Just look at him tremble.'_ Jaden thought as he reached to draw a card from his Deck. 'He must really be impressed by me!' But just as he was about to draw his card, he heard a faint cooing sound. He paused for a second before drawing the card and taking a look at it. 'Winged Kuriboh?' He then remembered that it was the card a guy he bumped into gave to him.

_(Flashback)_

_"Something tells me that it belongs with you."_

_(End Flashback)_

_'You know, something tells me I'm starting to believe that too.'_ Then, whether if it was his imagination or not, he noticed that the card actually winked at him! He blinked at first making sure he wasn't seeing things, but got over his shock as it wore off and then made his decision._ 'I guess that's a sign that I should play ya.'_ "Okay, I summon Winged Kuriboh in DEF mode!" When he declared that, a small furry creature with for green paws and a pair of angelic wings appeared above its card image (1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200). "Next, I play a facedown. Not bad, huh, teach?"

Crowler simply laughed at this. "No, not bad, but you must understand that I'm a master technician." He teased Jaden. "A Kuriboh to me is rather pedestrian; even one with wings its DEF points are no match for my Ancient Gear Golem! It's a textbook mistake, so let's proceed." He then drew his next card. "Okay Ancient Gear Golem, attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!"

The giant Ancient Gear monster reared back a fist and threw a punch at the tiny creature and shattered the hologram to pieces.

_'Sorry Winged Kuriboh.'_ Jaden muttered in his thoughts.

But Dr. Crowler noticed that Jaden's life points hadn't dropped. "Check your gear, your Life Points hasn't changed."

"My gear's fine." Jaden shrugged. "On the turn that Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take zero Damage!" That actually took Crowler by surprise. Even some of the audience members were stunned that Crowler didn't know that.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Man, when will people like him ever stop underestimating the Kuribohs?" Davis cracked up with his face up and covering his eyes.

"Well how about that. A technique the doctor didn't know." Alexis said.

"No one can expect to know every technique, Alexis. Especially one as obscure as that." Zane argued.

"Yeah, well that kid sure knew it." Alexis countered with a slight laugh.

"Fine, fine, I guess your little pathetic monster saved you there." Crowler taunted.

"Whoa, slow down there, teach! Just because you beat him doesn't give you the right to call him pathetic!" Jaden snapped.

"Oh yes. I forgot how you young duelists get attached to your monsters." Crowler taunted again. "I'm sorry."

"You should be sorry." Jaden said as he pressed a button on his duel disk. "Because by attacking my Winged Kuriboh you set off my trap card, one of my favorites too, Hero Signal!" As his trap card activated, a spotlight with a unique 'H' symbol appeared on the ceiling. "And that lets me bring out another Elemental Hero. Here's Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" He said taking the card from his deck and placing it on the tray. From a column of red flames a gray–skinned woman in a red body–suit appeared (3/ATK: 1200/ATK: 800). "Now it's my move!" He said drawing his next card he then looked at his hand. "Okay, Winged Kuriboh, this one's for you! First I'll bring Avian back to my hand with the Spell Card, The Warrior Returning Alive." The card came out of the graveyard slot of his duel disk. "And now, I'll summon him to the field!" Avian reappeared on the field.

"Oh, ok, another amateurish mistake, but this is good, this is good, now would anyone like to tell me what our little friend here…" Crowler began to taunt.

"I didn't say I was done yet." He said. "See, I know that my two monsters aren't very powerful by themselves, but if I can form them together it's another story! And I have just the card to unite them! Go Polymerization!" Jaden said showing the card to Crowler and then playing it. The two Elemental Heroes leapt up into the air and started to swirl together as the effects of Polymerization activated. "Fusion Summon!" After they fused, a new monster appeared that had some features Avian and Burstinatrix. It had one of Avian's wings along with a few of Burstinatrix's colors. The only thing new was a dragon–like hand on its left arm (6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200). "And there he is, Elemental Hero Flame–Wingman! Hope your Golem's ready for a Clash of the Titans!"

"I must say, you're dueling quite well for an amateur but next time try summoning a monster with more ATK points than the one that's already out." Crowler said.

"What does he mean by that?" Syrus asked.

"He means that the Wingman's ATK points are lower than the Golem's 3000 ATK points." Bastion answered. "A shame too, because that Elemental Hero of Jaden's has a very powerful ability."

"Well, let's hope that lone card in his hand can help him." Davis added.

"Alright, young man. I don't mean to rush you but I am a very busy man, so are you even done yet?" Crowler sighed.

"Of course I'm not done yet!" Jaden replied as he took the card he drew and opened up the Field Spell Zone. "And, of course, I knew my Wingman had less ATK points than your golem. That's why I'm activating the Field Spell, Skyscraper!" After he played the card, buildings and skyscrapers literally, sprouted up from the field. In the middle of the cityscape, Crowler's Golem looked like a giant monster attacking the city itself while Jaden's Wingman was perched on top of the highest building's steeple roof's lightning rod with its arms crossed.

"Alright, Flame Wingman!" Jaden called out. "Time to show those heroics! Attack that Ancient Gear Golem with Skydive Scorcher!" After he announced that, Flame Wingman jumped from the building it stood on and dove towards it.

"Fine, bring him on." Crowler said not worried. "This field spell of yours hasn't lowered a single ATK point of my Golem!" Flame Wingman then landed on the pavement in front of the Ancient Gear Golem before leaping up into the air again.

"You're right, teach. What it's done is raise my Flame Wingman's ATK by a grand total of 1000 ATK points!"

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman – (6/ATK: 2100–3100/DEF: 1200)

"Wait, what?" Crowler shrieked, but it didn't stop Flame Wingman from attacking as it launched itself at the Ancient Gear Golem as flames covered its body. Crowler looked like he was having a heart attack as Flame Wingman slammed into Ancient Gear Golem, breaking into pieces.

Jaden: 2000

Crowler: 2900

"No, my best card!" Crowler complained before a piece of debris fell on his head.

"And I don't want to forget my Wingman's effect. You see, when Wingman destroys a Monster in battle, the ATK points of that Monster are dealt as Damage to your Life Points. Sweet huh?" The crumbled pieces of Ancient Gear Golem fell on top of Crowler, who tried to get away but failed, burying him and depleting his Life Points.

Jaden: 2000

Crowler: 0

"And that's game!" Jaden announced doing a two finger salute with his index and middle finger. "So, I guess I passed the test\?" The holograms faded, a lot of people were actually stunned. First Davis with the "This Is It!" declaration and now a rookie beating an expert teacher, who used his own personal deck!

"Impossible… There's no way this delinquent could've beat me!" Crowler growled.

"It must be dumb luck!" Chazz said with the same expression when he watched Davis's duel. "No way Crowler would lose to some flunky!"

Alexis smiled at Jaden's victory. "This kid's definitely got a future here, wow." She then saw Zane walking away.

"Yay! Jaden won!" Syrus cheered.

"Nice! He took down that Golem good!" Davis smirked.

_'Nice. I could use some competition.'_ Bastion thought smiling at Jaden's victory while the latter did a victory dance. After that, Jaden took out and looked at the Winged Kuriboh card. "We made it!" He said. "And from here on in, we're gonna be partners." Again, Jaden could've sworn he heard Winged Kuriboh coo and wink at him.

As they celebrate their victories, Davis noticed a group of girls passing by them. One of them was the Deena look-a-like. Davis checked her out as she and her friends pass by without noticing. Definitely going to be worth attending the school.


	2. Chapter 2: The Welcoming Committee

Chapter 2: Welcome to Duel Academy!

3 days since the entrance exams.

It was early in the morning and Davis was at his house and was just about ready to go to the Kaiba Dome where the helicopter will take them to Duel Academy. He was walking in his living room with his luggage which consist of extra clothes like shirts and a pairs of pants along with bathroom accessories, a backpack of minor school supplies, his cellphone, iPod and its charger/alarm clock, laptop, guitar (he's a good singer/guitarist,btw), and of course his duel disk and deck in tow and was about to head out the door until he saw a standing picture frame on a small table next to his couch. It had a picture of him as a kid all smiling a goofy smile and next to him was a black-haired woman who looked like that mom from Wizards of Waverly Place. He solemnly looked at the picture as he took it.

_'Mom… I'll find you… wherever you are…'_ Davis thought. Just then, a faint image of a woman showed up. She had on this soldier costume with a USA flag motif and carries a circular shield that matches her outfit. This was American Dream, Shannon Rogers.

_"Davis. We need to get going."_ Shannon said.

"Yeah, I know…" Davis said still looking at the photo.

_"You're still thinking about your mother aren't you?"_ Davis nodded. _"Don't worry; I'm sure she's out there somewhere."_

"I know, but… it's already been three years since she's vanished and still… nothing…" Just then Ben and Bartman OOO appeared in spirit form too.

_"Hey, there's no need to get emo Davis,"_ Bart reassured him. _"With us by your side there is nothing you can't do."_

_"Bart's right,"_ Ben stated. _"We will find your mom no matter what."_

_"You see Davis,"_ Shannon once again spoke, _"You have nothing to fear. We, the cards your mother made, will stand by you through and through. Not only that,"_ She turned her head towards the Avengers deck as a faint glow of multicolored light was emitted from it, _"all the others will help too."_

Davis smiled at their words. The duel spirits within his deck, his friends, were all cheering for him and supporting him. What sort of guy would stay sad at that? "You guys are right. This isn't a time to be sad. I got into Duel Academy! Let's go there and Get some! I'm sure mum would be proud of me!" The three current spirits cheered and nodded their heads before disappearing. Turning his head back to the picture once more he gave it a confident smile. "I'll find you mom and the cards you made will help me on the way." Grabbing his cards and putting them into the deck holder on his belt, Davis grabbed his luggage and left the house he's lived in. Until he realized...

"But first..." Davis went back to take care of some serious business (don't ask what) as a mysterious man in a fisherman hat and a trench coat stalks him. As Davis closed the door, the man grinned an evil grin.

"Davis Eitoku...I will make sure you will -(sniff sniff) **Oh God! That smell! IT BURNS!"** he was down having a seizure due to the scent of whatever happened in Davis' bathroom before he even get to finish. **"Geez, what did he just EAT?!"**

Of course, Davis noticed as he got out, but he didn't care as he needed to get going. That's what happens when you're near the part of the house where the bathroom is.

* * *

Soon Davis got to the front of the Kaiba Dome where all the other students were and boarded the helicopter that was in front of it. Davis sat next to Bastion while Syrus next to Jaden, who was sleeping during the trip.

_"Attention new Academy Duelists. This is your captain speaking. If you look out your window you'll see your new home away from home."_ Davis and most of the students did just that as they saw an island clear in their sights. It was mainly green due to most of the island being forest areas and even saw a dormant volcano. But what stuck out, was the building in the center of the island. It was silver color, surrounded by four tan Obelisk like pillars. And there were three dishes in the middle; a blue, yellow and red one in that order going diagonally down. _"Next stop, Academy Island! Please fasten your seatbelts and sit in an upright position as we make our landing."_

As soon as it landed, the Freshman class immediately went to the gym to get their school equipment, such as their PDA, or Duel Pilots as they call it, and the blazers jackets they'll be wearing. Davis was given a yellow blazer, which would mean that he is in Ra Yellow. Bastion was in it too. Davis looked to Jaden and Syrus, and they were given Red blazers, meaning they were in Slifer Red. He looked to other students and saw that some of them were wearing blue blazers, but it had coat tails on the bottom, indicating they were in Obelisk Blue. And he also got the Duel Academy issued Duel Disk. After about half an hour or so of getting that settled, Davis, who is now wearing his new yellow blazer unbuttoned now showing a shirt with the grey Avengers logo, and the Freshman class got into what appears to be some kind of college lecture class that you would see in a University. In front of them was a large screen and soon enough, a person's face appeared. He was a bald man with a grey beard and looked to be in his late 40's to early 50's and was a coattail blazer like the blue blazers Davis saw, but it was darker red.

_"Welcome, Elite Duelists."_ The bald man greeted. _"I'm Chancellor Sheppard, the Headmaster of this school. You all used your skills to open the narrow admission gates."_ Davis noticed that Jaden was half asleep on this, which he chuckled at before turning his attention back to the Chancellor speaking. _"Please have fun studying in hopes of becoming the future King of Games. Now please, get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms. I hope you find them quite comfortable; depending on how you ranked of course."_ He finished with a slight chuckle.

After the speech, the students walked out of the school to get to their room assignments. Davis was checking on his Duel Pilot that showed all the personal info that's related to school and whatnot.

"Well, looks like I'll be staying at Ra Yellow." Davis said.

"That would make us neighbors then." He turned to see Bastion walking up to him.

"Hey Bastion, it looks like we _will_ be neighbors." Davis greeted. "So? Ready to head over there then?"

"I suppose." Bastion answered. The two were walking until they saw Jaden and Syrus sitting on a stone decoration of sorts.

"Hey Bastion, you in red too?" Jaden asked.

"Let's see… yellow buttons, yellow sleeves, nope. I don't think so." Bastion answered.

"Same here. We're in the Ra Yellow dorm." Davis added.

"Oh… So that's how it works…" Jaden realized looking at his red blazer.

"Are you saying you just figured that out?" Davis asked incredulously.

"So what? You ever think that maybe I was color blind?" Jaden glared.

"Actually, no we didn't." Bastion said.

"Maybe." Davis guessed.

"_Are_ you color blind?" Syrus asked.

"Nah, but I could've been!" Jaden snickered. "Maybe we'll see you and Davis around the dorms!" Jaden said to Bastion.

"I doubt that…" Bastion said as he pointed his thumb towards the other side of the island. "_Your _dorms are over there."

"Ya, so see ya later." Davis waved as he and Bastion walked left Jaden and Syrus to themselves.

* * *

It didn't take long for Bastion and Davis to find their dorm seeing as it was really… yellow. It can't be explained much clearer than that. Bastion and Davis soon found their rooms which were actually next door. After unlocking his room with the key he got as soon as they got to the island, Davis was met by a nice room whose walls are white with a full sized bed, a dresser, a closet, a good–sized desk with a computer and lamp, and a window with a nice view. It even had a small fridge and stove for cooking. His luggage was all there thanks to staff who dealt with it.

Laura appeared in spirit form. _"Hmmmm.. this place ain't so bad."_ She commented. _"Just like home."_

_"Pikachu!"_ a voice exclaimed. Davis turned to see yet another spirit appear on the bed. It was a mouse-like creatures that has short, yellow fur with brown markings covering its back and parts of its lightning bolt-shaped tail. It also has black-tipped, pointed ears and red circles on its cheeks. This was Pikachu.

"Hehe. Look's like you're getting used to this place, huh, Pikachu?" He gave him a gentle rub on the head.

"_Well, it is all right, but maybe it needs a little touch of us," _another spirit said as she and two more appeared. The catgirl with blue hair and white fur was Felecia. Appearing after her were two normal looking girls; A blonde who had some sort of mechanic/adventure themed outfit with an orange top, goggles, a big brown glove on left hand and a small one on her right, and what kind of looks like black shoes and some shin armor on her long socks (Rikku) and a redhead wearing a green dress with a yellow tornado symbol on the chest with candy cane-colored sleeves and leggings (Cyclone, or Maxine Hunkel).

_"We might as well make it feel like home."_ Maxine stated.

_"She's right." _Rikku agreed.

So with that, Davis set to work; placing his guitar next to his desk, setting up his laptop and iPod, and hanging all of his clothes including extra blazers and pants in case, the one he's wearing got dirty. He did all of that in a few minutes. "Done." Davis said.

_"Alright, Davis,"_ Maxine commented.

"_We'll see you again later, Davis."_ Rikku said. After that the spirits went back to rest within their cards when Davis heard knocking on the door. Opening the door, Davis saw Bastion waiting for him.

"All settled in, I take it?" Bastion asked.

"Yep." Davis answered. "So, Bastion, what's up next on our list after settling in?"

"There is the Welcome Dinner for us. And that's not going to be a while until tonight."

"KK. That means a lot of free time for me to check out the whole school. Lots of exploring to do, people to meet, and hopefully duel." He said as he took his Duel Academy issued duel disk out of his backpack.

"Happy hunting then." Bastion grinned.

* * *

So for the rest of the morning heading, Davis explored the campus, and he's got to admit, it was pretty impressive. He's been also meeting other people too. Some were friendly, others not so much. He's heard of stuff about lower classmen about discriminated by the upperclassmen, especially when it comes to the Obelisk Blue students. In fact he's heard from Bastion while on the way to Academy Island, about the dorms and how they work.

He's been told that the Obelisk Blue dorm is mostly made up of students who have connections and are rich. Luxurious interior design, high–quality rooming, and finer food are offered as well. As for the Ra Yellow dorm, the one Davis was in, were the ones with the second best qualities. Which would explain why his dorm room was like a regular bedroom you would find in any house. Then there's the Slifer Red dorm, where students are categorized as being the weakest duelists among the dorms, and the room quality is only as good as having an apartment complex. They have very weak decks and poor strategies which cause them to lose most of the time. In some cases students from this dorm have never won a duel at all and drop out. He was a little disgusted by this social discrimination the school has, but he's gonna have to bear with it during his three years here, and during those years, he'll prove to those who are snobs and elitists that social status isn't everything.

Putting that aside right now, Davis continued to explore around the campus. He needed to know the area well, otherwise he'll always get lost.

"Wow. This place never ceases to amaze me." Davis said impressed by the inside of the Academy. He didn't notice four girls walking in the opposite direction. One of them is Alexis, a red head, the third girl having black hair, and the fourth was the Deena look-a-like. He kept on walking until he bumped into the latter, making the latter fall on her butt.

"OW!" She cried.

"Huh?" Davis said before looking down at who he bumped into. It was that same girl from the exams. "Oh, I'm sorry! Didn't see you there!" He quickly apologized.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?!" The red headed girl snapped.

"Yeah, watch where you're going!" The black hair girl added.

"C'mon, guys. It was an accident." Alexis said as she offered her hand to Davis. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Davis said looking up at her. He then proceeded to do the same to the Deena Look-a-like. "What about you?"

"Yeah, same here." she said.

At that point, Davis blushed seeing her face. To him, she's the cutest girl he's ever seen. As Davis helped her up to her feet, he attempted to talk to her, but he can't. He opened his mouth, only to close it again when he couldn't seem to find the right words to say. This happened several more times as he really tried to speak to her. The girl in the black hair and Alexis giggled at his actions causing him to stop. _'I can talk to pretty girls back home, yet I can't seem to ask _this _girl for her name!'_ he cursed himself mentally.

"Do you want something?" the red head asked seeing as Davis was just staring at the girl.

"Jasmine don't be mean now," Alexis told her friend. The blonde then turned to Kurogasa who still seemed to be struggling to find the words he wanted to say. She gave him a smile and decided it was time to go see the other new freshmen in her dorm. "See you later new guy. Mindy, Jasmine, Rachel, let's go."

As they passed him, Davis found his voice. "Wait!" he called after them. The three girls turned around and looked at him curiously. "I'm Davis Eitoku, what's your name?"

"Rachel Figueroa."

"Rachel, huh? Nice name. Uh… do think you could show me around the island? I'm new here and I don't want to get lost." The girl with black hair, Mindy, giggled while Jasmine rolled her eyes. Alexis and Rachel, on the other hand, just smiled.

"Maybe next time, Davis. We have to go see our new classmates in Obelisk Blue. See you around." The quartet then left Kurogasa alone again and caused him to look after her.

"Rachel." He said to himself, but then sighed. "Man, that was embarrassing."

_"Awwww...Davis has a crush."_ A new voice teased. A spirit appeared next to him. She was a female image of a certain spider-themed hero. This was Spider-Girl, May Parker.

"M–May! You saw that!?" Davis exclaimed.

_"Of course I did. I have to say I'm a bit ashamed of you. What happened to all the hard work we had training you to speak to girls?"_

"Um… she was so pretty that I forgot all about it?" The red and blue heroine facepalmed.

_"Seriously? She looked like Deena from Jersey Shore!" _exclaimed another spirit as she appeared. She was an African American woman with mid-length spiky black hair. She wore a formfitting blue shirt that also included a partial hood that covers her cheeks and forehead. Over this, she has brown coveralls, and has a belt with three glowing circles on it, kept in place by black straps on her thighs. Oddly enough, this looked like Iron Man's technology. She also wears black kneepads and has three silver hoop earrings on both of her ears. This was Rocket, Raquel Rhodes. _"However, Spidey's right you know."_

"Not you too, Raquel!" Davis whined.

_"C'mon, you looked stupid Davis!"_ Raquel giggled. Rocket was a little strict when it comes to women but she's cool. _"You kept opening and closing your mouth like a fish!"_

"Yeah, I know I looked stupid," Davis grumbled. He along with the two heroines then decided to explore the school.

_"This place is soooo cool! So high tech! Are we going to be living here now Davis?"_

"Yes Raquel, this is where we are going to live."

_"Nice!"_

As they explored he took note of the places he went through, that way he'd be sure to remember it. He continued walking around until he noticed something up ahead. He saw a large duel arena and in there, he saw Jaden and Syrus and three male Obelisk Blue students. By the looks of it, the male Obelisks were smack talking to Jaden and Syrus. "That can't be good…" Davis said grimacing his face.

_"Better swing them out of there."_ May said.

"You don't have to tell _me_ twice." Davis said as May and Raquel disappeared. He walked inside the arena, and the Obelisk Blue student wearing glasses saw him.

"Hey, it's that kid with those Avengers cards." The boy with the glasses said recognizing Davis. "Hey Chazz, it's that kid with those cards who did that thing on that proctor!"

"Huh?" Jaden and Syrus asked simultaneously as they turned around and saw Davis coming their way.

"Is it now?" the black haired kid, presumably named Chazz smirked as he turned to see Davis. "Well, it looks like he's a Ra Reject. Better than the Slifer Slackers anyway."

"Obelisk Blue doesn't sound much promising either if people like you three are in it." Davis scolded. "You three are just a bunch of snobs that have more talking skill than dueling."

"What did you say?!" a bulkier Obelisk Blue student growled as Chazz looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

"Ouch!" Jaden laughed. Not even a scathing glare from Chazz seemed to be able to crush his amusement.

"Do you even know who you're talking to?" the glasses kid frowned. "That's Chazz Princeton! He made the top of the class at duelist prep school! People say he's got what it takes to become the next King of Games!"

"Impossible…" Jaden scoffed crossing his arms with a look of indifference on his face.

"What?" Chazz growled at Jaden.

"I said impossible because that's gonna be me!" Jaden grinned pointing his thumb at himself.

"Aren't you a first year, too?" Davis asked Chazz.

"The best there is!"

"Then, you're the same as all of us." Davis shrugged. "I just don't have the money or many connections to have Obelisk Blue handed to me on a silver platter. And if you're the impression of the next King of Games, then why would anyone want the title?"

"You'd better watch your mouth, Ra Reject!" the bulkier Obelisk threatened.

"Or what?" the Avengers duelist asked, "Just because you Obelisks got higher status now, doesn't mean you all could be equal or actually be beneath me or anyone else in an actual duel."

"Then let's prove it right now." Chazz challenged. "One of my guys against you. I still want to show that Slifer Slacker that I'm the best."

"What's going on here?" A voice called. They all turned to see two other Obelisk walking towards them. It was Alexis Rhodes and Rachel Figueroa.

"Who're they?" Syrus wondered.

"Uh… hey Rachel, Alexis." Kurogasa greeted.

"You know this Ra Reject?" Chazz asked in surprise.

"Chazz, you need to stop insulting the other houses." Alexis said.

"You're even making our house look bad." Rachel added.

Chazz scoffed before turning back to Davis. "What do you say Reject? Up for a duel against one of my men?"

"Alright, then. We got time. The Dinners aren't gonna be 'till tonight and I'll let your flunkies do the work." Davis waved off. "Makes no difference to me…"

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked.

"It's okay Rachel, I can take them on." Kurogasa assured her. "So who's game?"

"Me!" the bulkier Obelisk shouted. "The name's Raizou! And I can't wait to show you up for the weaker duelist you are. I'll beat you so bad; they'll demote you to Slifer."

"At least at the end of the day, I'm not you." the Avenger duelist stated, "A duelist who really doesn't need to be in high graces." The bulkier Obelisk and Davis got on the duel arena stage. Davis got his deck and puts on his Duel Academy issue duel disk. He then inserted the deck inside the deck slot and the disk went from standby to active. Both players then drew their starting hand.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Raizou:** 4000

**Davis:** 4000

"This is going to be sweet." the glasses wearing Obelisk student snickered.

"That Ra Reject won't know what hit him." Chazz chuckled.

"Seniority goes first!" Raizou stated. "Draw!" The Obelisk thug studied his hand before making a decision. "First off I summon Marauding Captain in ATK mode!" A middle aged man with blond hair appeared on the field. He had a sword in each hand and was wearing steal knight armor on his body. Behind him was a billowing red cape (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 400) "Next his ability activates. When he is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I choose to summon a second Marauding Captain!" A carbon copy of the knight appeared next to the first one. "Lastly I put a card face down and end my turn. Let's see you get through that Reject!"

"That's not good. He's got Davis in an ATK lockdown." Alexis stated. Rachel nodded in agreement.

"How's that?" Syrus asked.

"Marauding Captain's ability is that Davis cannot target Raizou's Warrior monsters for attacks, except him. But he's got both of the same Monsters on the field. He can't attack neither one."

"It's my turn! Draw!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. _'Okay, he's got me in an attack lock down, so I can't do much.'_ Davis thought.

_"Davis! Get me on the field!"_ Yet another spirit cried out from her card.

Davis looked at it and then smirked. 'And of course there's you Cassie. Alright then, I'll get you on the field.'

_"Finally!"_

"For my first move, I'll summon Stinger in ATK mode!" Kurogasa declared. A blonde girl in a red/black outfit wearing a mask appears. This was Cassie Lang, AKA Stinger (3/ATK: 1500/DEF: 700).

"Cassie, attack the idiot in the blue."

"You can't do that! Unless-Hey!"

"Yeah, that's right! You see once per turn I can halve the ATK of Stinger to attack you directly until the end of my turn. Do it!"

_"Got it!"_ Stinger responded (3/ATK: 1500–750/DEF: 700). Shrinking to about 4 inches and growing wings while doing so, she flew towards Raizou and blasts him with some of her Bio Stings.

**Raizou:** 3250

**Davis:** 4000

"Yeah! Davis gets first blood!" Jaden cheered.

"Way to play!" Syrus cheered.

_'Wow. He somehow managed to find a way to bypass Raizou's Marauding Captain's abilities.'_ Rachel thought. _'And it's just with that one monster.'_

"I place three cards facedown and end my turn." Davis said as three reversed cards appeared on the field and Cassie's ATK points returned to normal.

Raizou growled before drawing. "Lucky shot! Next time, you won't be so lucky! I activate my Trap Card, DNA Surgery!" The face down card flipped up and showed a picture of a man in a surgeon's clothes along with two other people. "With this on the field I get change all face up Monster's Type into whatever I want. I choose Warrior."

"What's the point in _that_? My Stinger is a Warrior already." Davis said confused.

"You should wait and watch Reject; you'll see what I mean. Next I summon Summoner Monk in ATK mode!" A priest in dark robes appeared with surrounding him. Suddenly armor appeared on the monster, symbolizing its change from Spellcaster to Warrior type. (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1600). "Now its effect activates and I change him into DEF position." The monk then sat down into lotus position, going into defense mode. "Next I activate A Forces! For every Spellcaster or Warrior on the field, my Warrior types get an extra 200 ATK point boost each. From what I see, there are four warrior types on the field. So that is an 800 point boost to each of my Monsters."

Marauding Captain: (4/ATK: 1200–2000/DEF: 400) X2

Summoner monk: (4/ATK: 800–1600/DEF: 1600)

"And that's enough for the Marauding Captain's to take out Stinger!" Syrus realized.

"Go Marauding Captain destroy his monster!" One of the warriors lifted up its sword and slashed Cassie across the chest, destroying her into pixels.

**Raizou:** 3200

**Davis:** 3500

"Now my other Captain Attacks!" The second captain charged forward and sliced Davis across the chest.

"AGH!"

**Raizou:** 3200

**Davis:** 1500

"I activate Damage Condenser!" Davis said revealing one of his traps. "With this Trap, I can Special Summon 1 monster from my Deck with ATK equal to or less than the total Battle Damage you took this turn. So since I took 2500 points, I can summon a Monster with 2500 ATK or less, and I'll choose American Dream!" The shield-wielding American heroine appeared (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 2100)

"And who's _that_?" Raizou scoffed.

"Shannon, tell him who you are." Davis said.

_"I am American Dream, leader of the Avengers!"_

"Wow, you have a Duel Spirit too Davis!" Jaden shouted from the sideline.

"Are you sure Jay?" Syrus asked slowly. Just like the proctor, Syrus thought Davis was just throwing his voice and using ventriloquism to speak for his monsters, even changing his voice for the girls, probably.

"Yeah, I mean, are you sure it's not just ventriloquism?" Alexis asked. She also believed Davis was just throwing his voice in as well.

"I'm sure you two." Then Jaden looked at Dream. "Although I have to ask, why is the leader a girl?" Davis was shocked. He knew Shannon gets pissed when men make the mistake to ask that question.

_"You got a problem with that?!"_ Shannon shouted at Jaden.

"Wow! You're right! It _is_ a Duel Spirit!" Syrus realized. "And you got her mad, Jay."

"Davis' not using ventriloquism after all." Rachel added.

"Also, I don't have _a_ Duel spirit. I have Duel Spirit_s_." Davis corrected and then turned to Raizou. "Are you done?"

"I place a facedown end my turn."

"Good, I draw!" After looking at his cards, Davis nodded to himself. "Alright, I play Card of Sanctity! Letting us both draw 'til we six cards in our hand." Both drew until they had six. "Now I'll play the Spell, Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your A. Forces!" A heavy wind blew destroying the card and Raizou's monster's stats dropped.

Marauding Captain: (4/ATK: 2000–1200/DEF: 400) X2

Summoner monk: (4/ATK: 1600–800/DEF: 1600)

"Next I play the Spell, Double Summon allowing me to summon twice this turn! So now I summon Reptil and Felecia ATK mode!"

Felecia (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200) appeared along with an Hispanic guy wearing a dark/light green shirt, black pants, and combat boots, the latter was Reptil (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000)

"Next I set a card face down and activate it," a card appeared face down on the field.

"You can't do that!" Raizou protested. "You just placed it facedown!"

"Unless I activate Bait Doll! With this card, I can select a Set card in the Spell/Trap card zone. If it is a trap, I am forced to activate it. If the timing is wrong, it is destroyed instead. If it's not a trap card at all, it just goes back face down. The card I choose the effect to use Bait Doll on is the card I put face down!" The face down card then flipped face up. "Skill Drain! I pay 1000 Life Points to activate the effect of my trap, but in exchange I get to negate the effects of all effect monsters face up on the field."

**Raizou:** 3250

**Davis:** 500

"What?!" Chazz and his groupies shouted in surprise.

"Now Bait Doll goes back into my Deck." Davis said as he did so. "Now get ready for my counter attack. Humberto! Attack his first Marauding Captain!"

_"Let's do this, amigo."_ Reptil, or Humberto Lopez as Davis calls him, said as he charged at the first Marauding Captain, with his hands changing into claws of a Velociraptor, which he used to destroy the monster. Reptil then jumped back and his hands were normal once more.

**Raizou:** 2750

**Davis:** 500

"Now Felecia! destroy Summoner Monk!" The catgirl then charged at the Monk while curling into a wheel of fur at a fast pace. Felecia then easily destroyed it with an uppercut and jumped back to Davis' side.

"I got to admit, that was pretty cool," Jaden replied with a smile. "Man, this makes me want to duel Davis even more."

Back on the field Davis wasn't done. "Dream, clear the rest of his field."

_"On it,"_ American Dream responded. She then charged at the Captain before stopping to throw her shield towards him. The Marauding Captain exploded as the shield struck him and went back to its owner.

**Raizou:** 2150

**Davis:** 500

"I activate my Trap Card, Call of the Haunted!" Raizou shouted as his trap card flipped upward. "As long as this card remains face up on the Field, I can bring back one monster from my Graveyard! I choose Summoner Monk!" The once destroyed monk reappeared on the field.

"Fine, I'll end my turn." Davis finished.

"My draw!" Raizou declared drawing his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw cards." Raizou drew two. "Next, I'll sacrifice my Summoner Monk in order to summon The Fiend Megacyber in ATK mode!" The monk disappeared only to be replaced by a yellow armored spiky warrior with robes that goes down its waist. (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1200). "Then I play two Cost Downs. I'll discard two cards so I can lower the Monster's level in my hand by 4." Raizou said as he discarded two cards from his hand.

"Why did he do that?" Rachel wondered.

"He probably has a powerful Monster in his hand." Alexis stated.

"Now I play Double Summon letting me summon once more, and I'll summon Sword Hunter due to playing the two Cost Downs I had in my hand. In a show of light and a gladiator, that had several swords on its back appeared (7–5–3/ATK: 2450/DEF: 1700).

"So _that's_ why he played those two Cost Downs." Jaden figured out.

"Now to finish you off! I play the Spell, Lightning Vortex!"

"Oh no!" Jaden cried.

"That'll leave Davis defenseless!" Syrus added.

"You should know what this card does by now, but I'll tell you anyway. I discard one card from my hand, and it'll destroy every one of your Monsters on your side of the Field!" A vortex of lightning appeared and sucked the Avengers in, destroying them in no time.

"That kid's done." Chazz said smugly.

"No way can he get out of this one." The kid with the glasses said.

"Now Fiend Megacyber, Sword Hunter finish this Ra Reject off!" Raizou ordered. The two monsters went straight for Davis, ready to strike at him at a moment's notice.

"DAVIS!" Jaden, Syrus, and Rachel cried.

"Sorry, but this duel is still going on! Activate facedowns! Nutrient Z and Emergency Provisions!" Davis countered revealing the facedowns.

"NO!" Chazz and his groupies yelled.

"That's right!" Davis smirked. "I knew you Obelisks like to do overkills, so I set these cards just in case. "First Nutrient Z gives me 4000 points if I'm about to take 2000 or more points in Damage." A small vile appeared in Davis' hand and he drank the contents before throwing it away. And vomitting them out because it tastes like crap, despite the stuff not being real.

"Eeeeeeeeewwwwwww!" everyone said, being grossed out.

"You try playing that card!" Davis shouted back at them.

**Raizou:** 2200

**Davis:** 4500

"And finally, Emergency Provisions allow me to destroy any of my Spell or Traps that I have on the field, and for every one destroyed, I gain 1000 Life Points. I choose to destroy Skill Drain!" The said card then shattered.

**Raizou:** 2200

**Davis:** 5500

As soon as that resolved, Sword Hunter and Fiend Megacyber hit Davis making the latter slide back a couple feet.

**Raizou:** 2200

**Davis:** 850

"Damn! I thought Raizou had him!" The Obelisk with the glasses growled.

"Doesn't matter, Torimaki. When Raizou's turn comes up, he's finished." Chazz assured him, who is also miffed with that last move.

"Whew… that was close." Jaden sighed in relief.

"Yeah, _too_ close." Syrus added.

"Now he just needs to draw something good to win this duel." Alexis added.

"Yeah" Rachel said in agreement.

"Damn you! Next turn, you're done Ra Reject!" Raizou growled.

"There's not gonna be a next turn." Davis said.

"Why's that?"

"Because…" Davis said as he drew his next card. "**THIS IS IT****!**"

"What?!" Raizou gasped taken off guard by the declaration. Chazz and the Obelisk boy with the glasses cringed at this.

"Uh–oh, you're in trouble _now_." Jaden snickered.

"I play Card of Demise drawing until I have five cards, but discarding my Hand after my 5th Standby Phase." Davis said as he drew his five cards. "Next I summon Bartman OOO in ATK mode!" The Filipino man appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. He took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor becoming Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"Next I activate the Spell, OOO Roulette!" Davis said next playing a card depicting a array of various different colored crests. "I roll a die, and OOO will gain a new form depending on the roll! Go, dice roll!" He yelled. A huge die came out of the card and dropped to the ground. It rolled, for a few seconds until it landed on a 2. "Nice, it's a 2! With that, I can Special Summon Bartman OOO – RaToraTah Form! And I'll special summon him from my Hand!" Bart took out the red and green coins and replaced them with two new yellow ones. One yellow coin has actually had a gold colored, but nonetheless still yellow, and it had a picture of a lion, and the other new yellow coin, a cheetah. OOO then scanned the medals.

**LION! ****TIGER! ****CHEETAH! RATORATAH!**

**RATA RATA… RATORA~TAH!**

**BGM: Ride on Right Time**

Bart became surrounded by spinning colored Medals by the spinning medals again. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Lion was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Cheetah was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor.

A blinding light burst from OOO's body as the armor formed on his body making everyone cover their eyes. When the light finally faded, it had completely formed. The head piece represented the head of a male lion having a metal mane around his oval face and he had blue lenses. The Tiger arms were the same. The legs were also yellow but it had black spots that resembled a cheetah. The O–Lung Circle crest had a composite crest with a lion on top, tiger in the middle, and cheetah on the bottom (8/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2200).

"Man, that's bright!" Jaden said rubbing his eyes.

"I couldn't see a thing!" Syrus added.

"Sorry about that. But that's how the transformation goes." Davis said. "Now I play this!" He then flipped the card over to show. "Look familiar? It's Lightning Vortex!" Davis said.

"NO!" The Obelisk boys gasped in shock.

"He won!" Rachel gasped. Alexis was surprised as well.

"That's right Rachel, I win. I just gotta discard this card from my hand." Davis said as he did so. A lightning vortex appeared and sucked up Fiend Megacyber and Sword Hunter, destroying them into pixels.

"No way! I lost to a Ra Reject?!" Raizou growled.

"Yep. Bartman OOO, finish him off with Liodias!" Davis commanded. Grabbing the scanner from his side, he swiped it across the Medals and three chiming noises were made.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

Yellow rings projected in front of OOO. He then rushed through them towards Raizou. As he was close enough, his entire helmet flashed with the blinding light of Liodias. Raizou was blinded again as he struggled to see and OOO roared, _"SEE–YAAAH!"_ before swinging his Tiger Claws at him.

**Raizou:** 0

**Davis**: 850

**BGM Ends**

* * *

The holograms disappeared and the duel disks deactivated. "Hmph. All bark and no bite." Davis scoffed to himself as Jaden and Syrus ran over to him and the former turned to them.

"Way to play, Davis!" Syrus praised.

"Yeah, what he said. The "This Is It" thing is still great as ever!" Jaden grinned.

"Thanks." Davis grinned back and then turned to the three Obelisks with Raizou slowly getting up on his feet. Those three were just mad.

"Don't think that this is over Ra Reject!" Chazz growled. "You're gonna regret messing with us Obelisks."

"Well, I'm always up for a challenge Chuck." Davis smirked. Jaden and Syrus laughed as Chazz and his flunkies stomped out of the arena.

"You know all of us Obelisks aren't that bad," Alexis said as she and Rachel strode up toward the trio.

"Well, some of us, technically." Rachel corrected. Davis turned around and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know about that. One of your friends seems a bit ditzy, while the other seems to glare at me nonstop. So far you two have been the only one nice to me," Davis replied with a smirk appearing on his lips.

"Mindy and Jasmine will come around," Alexis smiled at them.

"You guys should get going now. It's almost time for the Welcoming Feasts." Rachel told the boys.

"Whoa we get feasts!?" Jaden asked with excitement. "Sy, let's go! See you later Davis! You too Alexis and Rachel!" The brunette ran out of the arena, dragging his blue haired friend behind him. This left Davis who put his hands into his pocket and went towards the opposite the one Alexis and Rachel were going. He then turned around and called out to the latter.

"Rachel!" The blond Deena girl looked over her shoulder at the boy. "So when will I get my tour of the island with you?"

"Maybe tomorrow… if you're lucky." Rachel then left with Alexis, leaving the smiling boy to himself. Looking around to make sure nobody would see him; Davis pumped his fist into the air and jumped for joy.

"Alright, I still got it."

_"You still could have made it better,"_ May laughed as she appeared next to the boy. _"And also, save your victory dance for when you're alone or with the others at least."_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Davis waved off. "Well, I get going. The feast is about to begin!" And with that, he ran off to his dorm.

* * *

Later that evening, all the welcoming dinners were starting. The Obelisk Blue dorms dinner was basically a fancy party, with gourmet food, punch bowls and classical music played by musicians in the background. As for the Slifer Red dorm, all they had was bowl of rice, sardines, some sauces, and a pair of chopsticks. In the Ra yellow dorm, it was better than Slifer Red, but it wasn't as luxurious as the Obelisks, but they still had great food you'd find at restaurants, especially the Coca Colas. Not to mention the Headmaster of Ra Yellow, who he introduced himself as Professor Sartyr, was the one that cooked it. Davis and Bastion were sitting next to each other enjoying the feast they were having. As they were talking, Davis told Bastion about the duel he had against Raizou before the Welcome Dinner.

"My word, you defeated an Obelisk Blue?!" Bastion asked rather shocked.

"It really was no big deal." Davis shrugged as he chugged his Coke. "Obelisks like Chazz, Torimaki, and Raizou are all bark and no bite. And this color business don't mean anything either. It's all because Kaiba wanted people to believe his old Obelisk was the best and that Yugi's Slifer, and Marik's Ra sucked. That's being biased there, don't you think?"

"Good point." Bastion agreed. "Still, you defeated an Obelisk Blue student. That's quite the feat you just did."

"Yeah, and I feel good just doing that. This Welcome Dinner and this drink here are just added bonuses." Davis grinned as he continued to eat and mostly drink.

* * *

After the Welcome Dinner, Davis was in his dorm room lying down on the bed resting...and just farted since the food was too good. "Aw man… I'm stuffed. Today turned out to be the best day and it's not even the first day of school yet." Davis sighed all happy patting his stomach before letting another fart, albeit a small one.

_"Yeah! And tomorrow is going to be even better!"_ Reptil, or Humberto, stated as he appeared in the room. _"We're going to make more buddies aren't we Davis!"_

"We'll see about that, 'Berto."

_"Maybe if I'm lucky, I can take good pictures of Davis and his little crush,"_ Rikku, teased as he appeared on the computer chair with her handmade camera. She brought it up and took a picture of the lying down duelist.

_"It would be funny to have some pictures for us Avengers to have a laugh about when you get embarrassed."_ Bartman OOO stated as he appeared. Although he couldn't see his face, Davis knew that Bart was smirking at him. The comment got the desired effect though, he was blushing embarrassedly.

"Shut up! It was just nerves okay?"

_"Maybe you can serenade her. Maybe use that guitar of yours."_ Bart then turned towards the unopened guitar.

"I guess." Davis replied.

_"You only got your confidence back when you dueled that Obelisk loser,"_ May stated. _"I mean your love life isn't going to go anywhere if you keep doing that around pretty girls."_

"Can we not talk about my love life right now? Besides I just met the girl," Davis grumbled. Behind him Reptil and Bart laughed, Rikku chuckled and May sighed.

_"Fine,"_ Reptil replied. _"Although you may need to get some rest. We have a big day of school tomorrow!"_

"Yeah, better get ready for bed." And he was about to go too until…

_"Davis, there's some people outside."_ Rocket said as she appeared.

"Huh?" Davis asked as he looked to the window and saw Jaden and Syrus running towards the Obelisk arena they were at earlier today. "What the? What's Jaden and Syrus doing going to the arena this late? It's past curfew."

_"We got to help them again, do we?."_ Bartman OOO groaned.

"Yep…" Davis sighed as the Avengers disappeared. He then decided to follow them so he could figure out what they're up to. He was about halfway there until…

"You shouldn't be out here this late." A voice called out, making Davis jump before turning around.

"Oh, hey Rachel. What are you doing here?" He said, trying to shake off the shock.

"I should ask you the same thing." She said.

"Hey, I was trying to get Jaden and Syrus to come back from the arena, when you caught me." Davis reasoned.

"Why would Jaden sneak out around here?" She wondered.

"That's what _I'm_ trying to find out."

"Alright, we'll find out together. Let's go." Rachel said as she and Davis ran to get to Jaden and Syrus.

* * *

Inside the Arena, Jaden and Syrus made it inside to find Chazz on one side waiting with his two friends.

"Well well well… you showed up after all, Slacker." Chazz greeted.

"Of course. After that challenge you sent to my DP, no way was I gonna miss this!" He told him as he climbed onto the dueling platform. Syrus took to the sidelines as the two duelists went to their respective ends of the platform.

"Now, we see whether you beating Dr. Crowler was a fluke, or a fact." Chazz said.

"Yeah." Jaden replied. "And we're gonna find out something else too; like which one of us is gonna be the next King of Games."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Just be sure to get your best card ready to hand over after you lose."

"You too, Chazz. Now get your game on!" Both of their duel disks turned on and they each drew their starting hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Jaden:** 4000

**Chazz:** 4000

"The best go first!" Chazz said drawing his sixth card. "I summon Chthonian Soldier in ATK mode!" A man in dark armor, wielding a large blade appeared on the field (4) (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1400). "I'll then place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Now it's my go!" Jaden drew his card and looked over his hand, "Ok, first off, I'll summon my Elemental Hero Sparkman in ATK Mode!" A strange looking human dressed in a yellow and blue garb with a curved blue helmet appeared (4) (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "Alright, Sparkman. Now attack Chthonian Soldier with Static Shockwave!" Jaden ordered. The Sparkman jumped into the air with his arm charged with electrical sparks before sending out an electric shockwave from his hand and hit the dark armored monster dead on, destroying it completely in an explosion.

**Chazz:** 3600

**Jaden:** 4000

Chazz growled at first, but smirked as he saw Chthonian's curved blade fly straight at Jaden, hitting him in the stomach. In pain, Jaden fell to one knee, holding his gut.

"Whenever Chthonian Soldier is destroyed, you take the same amount of Damage to your Life Points as I did!"

**Chazz:** 3600

**Jaden:** 3600

"Okay, that was just a minor setback." Jaden grunted getting back up. "I'll place a facedown and call it a turn." Jaden said placing a reverse card on the field.

"Oh man, Jaden walked right into that one." Syrus said in a nervous tone when he heard someone chuckle. He turned to see Davis and Rachel walk into the stadium.

"You worry too much Sy." Davis said.

"Davis? Rachel?" Syrus said when they walked up to him.

"I thought we'd find you here." Rachel said with her arms crossed. "Looks like Jaden is holding his own against Chazz."

"He is, but Chazz's facedown worries me." Davis said while he stared at Chazz's lone facedown. "He's waiting for something."

"Minor?" Chazz scoffed and started his turn. "After this turn, you're gonna have a major setback! I play the Trap Card Call of the Haunted in order to bring back Chthonian Soldier!" The dark knight reappeared on the field with a large battle cry. "Next I play my Reborn Zombie in DEF mode!" A decaying zombie appeared on the field with tattered clothing. (4) (ATK: 1000/DEF: 1600).

"Alright! Time to go bigger!" Jaden drew his next card and smiled. "And I have just the card to do it!"

"Bring it on slacker!"

"It _is_ brought! I activate Polymerization, fusing Avian and Burstinatrix from my hand in order to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Everyone watched as Avian and Burstinatrix jumped into the fusion portal as Jaden's ace monster appeared on the field (6) (ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200). "See? Told ya I'd go bigger."

"You know, I was hoping you'd do that." Chazz smirked.

"Why's that?"

"Because that card I put facedown was a Trap that you set off!" Chazz said as his facedown card flipped up. "I play the trap card Chthonian Polymer!"

"What does it do?" Jaden asked.

"I sacrifice my Reborn Zombie in order to take control of your Wingman!" Reborn Zombie was engulfed by dark flames as it surrounded Flame Wingman, pulling him over to Chazz's field, giving him a darker look.

"Not my Wingman." Jaden groaned while he was staring down his best monster.

"That's not good!" Syrus worried.

"Yeah, now Jaden's gonna have to go up against Flame Wingman's super power when he attacks." Davis grimaced.

"You know Slacker, you're so predictable. You wouldn't shut up about that Wingman during the exams so I knew you were going to summon him sooner or later."

"Well, since that Wingman was a Special Summon, I can summon another monster during my turn." Jaden looked at his hand and thought, _'Problem is, none of my monsters even come close to Flame Wingman's ATK points.'_

_'Go ahead Slacker, play a monster.'_ Chazz thought. _'I haven't forgotten about your Monster's ability.'_

Jaden made his decision. "Alright, I play Elemental Hero Clayman in DEF Mode and switch Sparkman to DEF." A large bulky warrior made of clay appeared on the field while Sparkman kneeled down (4) (ATK: 800/DEF: 2000). "There, all done."

"_That's_ your move?" Chazz drew his next card and smirked. "I'll show you what a _real_ move is! I play the Spell Card, Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your facedown!" A green typhoon destroyed Jaden's facedown card which revealed itself to be Mirror Force.

"Not my Mirror Force too." Jaden whined.

"Now Flame Wingman, attack his Clayman with Skydive Scorcher!" Flame Wingman enveloped himself in orange flames and rammed himself into Clayman, destroying him with little effort. "Let's not forget his ability, since he destroyed a Monster, you take damage equal to the destroyed Monster's ATK points!"

Flame Wingman appeared in front of Jaden and used his dragon arm to send a fire stream at Jaden who fell to his knees.

**Chazz:** 3600

**Jaden:** 2400

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." Chazz said while a reverse card appeared on the field. Chazz then heard some muffled sounds coming from Jaden. Chazz smirk grew wider. "Aw, what's wrong? You gonna cry?" Chazz got his answer when the 'crying' turned into full blown laughter which threw everyone threw a loop including Chazz. Jaden stood up with a huge grin on his face.

"This is awesome!"

"What?!" Chazz stared at Jaden thinking that the Slacker had just gone insane.

"This is exactly what I came for." Jaden rubbed his nose. "I mean come on; the trash talking, the action, it's incredible!"

"You're insane." Chazz said flatly.

"That's a compliment to me." Jaden drew his next card. "I switch Sparkman into ATK Mode and place one card facedown and end my turn." One reverse card appeared on the field while Sparkman stood upright.

"You truly are insane Slacker." Chazz drew his next card. "I summon another Chthonian Solider in ATK Mode!" Another shadow knight appeared with its curved blade ready. "Now Flame Wingman, attack his Sparkman now!"

"Not so fast there Chazz, I have a Trap!" Jaden revealed his face down which made Chazz's eyes widen.

"M–Mirror Gate!"

"Aw yeah!" Syrus cheered.

"Jaden's still in this!" Rachel smiled.

"Sure is. Mirror Gate's ability allows Jaden to switch one of his Elemental Heroes with the attacking Monster. In this case, Flame Wingman and Sparkman!" Davis grinned.

"That's right! Now Sparkman and Wingman switch sides!" Sparkman and Flame Wingman switched duel fields as they clashed in the middle with Wingman overpowering Sparkman, causing a huge explosion.

"NOO!" Chazz screamed as his plan fell apart.

**Chazz:** 3100

**Jaden:** 2400

"And just like you said a while ago, let's not forget about my Wingman's ability! You take damage equal to Sparkman's ATK points!" Jaden told Chazz as the residual electricity from Sparkman attacked Chazz, causing him to scream again.

**Chazz:** 1500

**Jaden:** 2400

"Yeah! He's in the lead!" Syrus cheered even more.

"He just might win this." Rachel added.

"Pure luck!" Chazz started his turn and revealed his facedown. "I play the trap card Chthonian Blast; now since you destroyed one of my Monsters, I can destroy one of your Monsters, and you take Damage equal to half of the destroyed Monster's ATK points!" Dark mist swirled around Flame Wingman and swallowed him whole.

**Chazz**: 1500

**Jaden**: 1350

"Now Chthonian Solider, attack his life points directly! Windstorm Slash!" The shadow knight slashed Jaden, making him step back.

**Chazz**: 1500

**Jaden:** 150

"Oh man… now he's back in the gutter…" Syrus groaned.

"Now I sacrifice my Chthonian Solider and summon Mefist the Infernal General!" Chthonian Solider disappeared in a black mist as a heavily armored knight with a giant axe appeared on the field on a black horse (5) (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1700).

"Not bad…"

"Not bad?" Chazz smirked. "You're something else ya know that Slacker, acting all confident. But your monsters won't save you now!"

_'I know he's wrong… because I know that my monsters and I have a bond.'_ He drew his next card and smiled slightly. _'Speaking of…'_

Just then… Cassie, in her small form, showed up.

"What's wrong?" Davis asked quietly.

_"We got company."_ Cassie said before disappearing.

Rachel turned her head to the entrance of the arena, a nervous look on her face. Her eyes went wide and she snapped her head back to the two dueling students, "Guys! It's Campus Security! If we get caught here, we're all gonna get seriously busted!"

"What?!" Syrus yelped.

Jaden looked at her, "What? Why? I mean, we're all students here, so why should we worry?" he asked her.

Just then, Alexis appeared, having been following Rachel and Davis and watching the Duel the whole time "The Rules of Duel Academy say that there is no off–hour dueling in _any_ arena! Chazz _knows_ that!" She looked at the other the boy in question whose face was red. "But lemme guess…he didn't tell you?"

"Must be a backup plan of some sort. In case he lost, he would've been happy with Campus Security catching him." Rachel figured.

"C'mon Chazz, let's go!" Torimaki said.

"Fine…" Chazz snorted then turned away.

"Hey wait a minute, this duel isn't over!" Jaden protested.

Chazz hopped off the platform and started walking away with Torimaki and Raizou, "Yeah it is, Slacker. I saw what I needed to see. You're a sorry duelist and you beating Crowler was a fluke…"

"But…"

"Jay! C'mon!" Syrus urged.

"Yeah man, we gotta bail." Davis added.

"I'm not moving from this spot until I finish my turn!" Jaden defied staying put.

"We don't have time for this!" Davis said as he grabbed Jaden and carried under his arm as Alexis lead them out of the arena.

* * *

After some time, Alexis and the others made it outside of the main building. She looked to see Jaden who was being let down by Davis with Syrus and Rachel right behind them.

"You sure are stubborn aren't you?" She asked Jaden.

"Only about my dueling." Jaden scowled.

"Anyway, thanks for showing us the back way out, Alexis." Davis sighed.

"No problem. I'm just sorry that you didn't get to finish your duel with Chazz, Jaden."

"It's ok. I just picture on how it would've ended anyway…"

Alexis raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? From _my_ point of view, it could have gone either way."

"Pfft, no way! Not after I drew _this_." Jaden lifted up the card he had drawn before they bailed out of the area. It was the Monster Reborn spell card. Alexis looked at it, surprised.

"You lucky son of a bitch." Davis chuckled.

"You know it! Catch ya later!" Jaden said and Syrus ran back to their dorm leaving Davis, Rachel and Alexis alone.

"I got to go, too. Come back once you're done talking to him, Rachel." Alexis teased, knowing something that Davis might have an idea on what she's talking about. As Alexis left, there were only two.

"So…" Rachel started to speak.

"So… uh… do you want me to walk you back to your dorm?" Davis asked. She giggled and he blushed a bit. "I mean… it's not that far away but I wouldn't want you to get hurt and all." This caused her to giggle again.

"Thanks, but I can handle myself."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll see you around." With that, Davis was left alone in front of the main building. His shoulders slumped and he shook his head.

_"Ouch, rejected,"_ Bartman OOO sighed.

"It's okay. I still have these three years to try right?"

_"Yeah, sure, whatevs."_ Bart said. With that, Davis walked back to his dorm, singing to the song of "Magic" by B.O.B. featuring Rivers Cuomo.


	3. Chapter 3: Attack of the Girls

Chapter 3: Attack of the Girls

Davis had to admit that Duel Academy wasn't what he expected it to be. There weren't as many duels as he thought there would be and there was tons of homework involved. Since he had dueled Raizou, many of the Obelisk students were giving him looks. Obviously Chazz or one of his buddies told the story about what happened. Either the students giving him looks were planning revenge or were just giving him a wide berth.

"It would be better if they would just duel me and get it over with," Davis grumbled to himself.

Classes were somewhat interesting when it came to subjects. Professor Lyman Banner's classes were rather interesting with his unknown strategies and damn near unnatural attacks. It was a class that Davis found himself waiting for, that and because that teacher has the same last name as one of the Marvel heroes, the Hulk. Of course, Professor Crowler's classes he could do without. The man knew what he was talking about in techniques and such, but he always went out of the way to glorify Obelisk students or pick on Slifer students. In the last class, he gave easy questions to Obelisks while he picked on Syrus with tougher questions even though the shorter boy would freeze up with nervousness whenever he was put in the spotlight. Jaden came to the rescue by reminding Crowler of how he lost to a Slifer student. The livid look on Crowler's face was priceless.

Davis just couldn't stand how elitist the Obelisks were, just because they were considered the best. He recalled how, despite having a superior special ability, Kaiba still lost a duel against Yugi when their respective God cards, Obelisk and Slifer, did battle. Ra too was the most powerful as it possessed the most destructive of special abilities. Obelisk only had like 4000 ATK while both Slifer and Ra could increase their ATK infinitely if one knew exactly how to do so.

So…with that in mind, shouldn't Obelisk be at the bottom with Slifer in the middle and Ra on top? He guessed Kaiba just wanted people to believe his old Obelisk was the best. Biased much?

At the moment, Davis was getting his normal uniform on after he finished gym class. He was running a bit late since he liked to make sure he looked proper. As he was finishing up, he heard a voice.

_"You're out of shape Davis,"_ May stated as she appeared when the duelist turned around. _"You need to stop eating meats and have more vegetables in your life."_

"But I _do_ eat vegetables May!" Davis almost complained. He knew the Avenger was just trying to be helpful, but Spidey tended to be rather insistent on the amount of vegetable he should eat. "I also exercise too."

_"I think he's just trying to avoid Laura_,_"_ Humberto snickered towards May as he appeared.

_"Oh yeah, I remember that. Laura wanted to train Davis and took him to a hockey game. It did not end well for you did it not?"_ Spidey asked politely.

"I had a few broken bones that day! I'm never going to let Laura to take me anywhere like that ever again!"

_"If you say so,"_ Spidey told him. The Avenger then stood up a bit straighter and looked around. _"Someone's coming. Can't tell if they're a threat or not."_ Davis nodded and after completely changing into his uniform he then hid behind a stack of lockers and looked over the side. He then saw that it was Syrus.

"It's okay guys. It's just Syrus. He's good." Davis whispered. The Avengers nodded before disappearing.

"Oh man! I'm so late!" Syrus cried as he ran for a locker. Quickly opening it, he spotted a pair of standard issue Slifer shoes. "Hey, these are Jaden's shoes. He must be borrowing my locker again." Grabbing the shoes so he could make room, Syrus gasped as he spied a letter sealed with a lipstick marking. His eyes widening, he picked it up. "But _this_ isn't Jaden's!" he continued to gasp. "This is a love letter!"

"Huh?" Davis blinked. "Wait, you got a love letter Syrus?"

"AHH!" Syrus cried in shock turning around seeing Davis walking towards him. "Davis? Where did you come from?"

"I was here the whole time. The Ra Yellows finished gym class and I'm the one last in here." Davis said. "I guess you're running late for gym class for the Slifer Reds, aren't ya?"

"Yeah…" Syrus groaned.

"We'll worry about it later. Open that letter up and let's see whose heart you managed to ensnare."

"Right." Syrus grinned goofily as he opened up the envelope and the letter that was inside. "From the moment I saw you… I've been in love with you?"

"Letter-from-the-locker says what?" Davis asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'd _tell_ ya if I knew." Syrus said then continued reading the letter. "Meet me tonight in the back of the Obelisk Girl's Dormitory so I can give you a big kiss. Endearingly… ALEXIS RHODES?!"

"Again...WHAT?!" Davis gasped. "Let me see that!" He said grabbing the letter and reading it, but then his face grimaced immediately. "Okay, I'm already seeing red lights here. Someone's definitely setting you up. This perfume smell also smells more like cologne than perfume. Although why is someone trying to set you up?" He then turned to his short friend. "Did you do anything to piss off anybody, other than Chazz?"

"N–No! I wouldn't do something like that!" Davis frowned and then thought about it. Syrus was too much of a nice guy to actually do something to make people mad. If anything this was targeted at Jaden, seeing as they put it on top of his shoes.

"I smell a trap. Someone's gunning for Jaden."

"You think so?"

"I _know_ so." Davis then paced a bit before thinking up a solution. "Okay, this is what we'll do. We go see about this whole thing tonight and spring the trap. If anything we'll find out who the real culprit is. Actually I was gonna sneak there anyways, which I'll explain why later as we roll with this plan."

"Okay, but if we fail?"

"We'll be treated to a very big beating by the females in Obelisk Blue for 'peeping' on their dorm." Both Syrus and Davis shuddered at the thought. Barely anything is scarier than a woman out to punish perverts.

"O–Okay. That sounds like a good plan."

"It's the best one we have so far." Davis then turned and looked at the clock on the wall. "You should get to class now. You don't want to be late right?"

"Oh! Right!" And with that, Syrus got into his gym uniform and ran off. When he left, Davis was thinking about his plan and what else will occur that night.

_'We're going to get into trouble, whether we get caught or not. We'll be out during curfew and we'll be going to the Girls' Dorm. If anything, I'll have to sacrifice myself to save Syrus. He doesn't deserve a beating like that. And may as well forget my other plan if I have to as well'_

_"So we're going to sneak into the Girls' Dormitory?"_ Bartman OOO asked as he appeared leaning on the lockers. _"Never thought you had it in you. I'm so proud."_

"I have my reasons…" Davis growled.

_"Although it's good that he's looking out for his friends,"_ Cyclone stated as she appeared. _"That's very admirable of you Davis. Just don't get yourself hurt."_

"Yeah, I'll be careful. Thanks Max." Davis said.

* * *

Davis had a bad feeling in his gut about the little rendezvous that Syrus was all smiles about. Something about it just didn't smell right. First of all, Alexis was, without a doubt, a hot girl. She could probably have any guy in the academy if she felt like it. What did Syrus have that she would want? He was short, insecure, and a Slifer to boot. The social backlash alone would make her a pariah in the eyes of the other Obelisks. Second of all, it was only a couple of days since they met. Love at first sight was all well and good but that never happened outside of a movie. Lastly, Alexis didn't strike Davis as the shy type to simply write a letter. If she liked a guy, then she would tell him to his face.

"Something's fishy," Davis mumbled as he pulled on his jacket. He didn't bother closing it, revealing a red T-shirt with a spider-like theme. Grabbing his deck and Duel Disk just to be safe, Davis headed out. But then, he forgotten about something. "Oh yeah. Almost forgot this." He picked up his guitar and headed out for real.

He walked across the grounds, making sure that none of the people from security spotted him. Being out after curfew was a big no-no and was severely punished. Still, Davis managed it as he managed to reach the Slifer dorms. Sure enough, Syrus was standing out front with a silly grin still plastered on his face.

'_Geez, it's like he's never gotten confessed to before,_' Davis grimaced. '_Oh wait. That's probably true._' "Hey, Sy."

"Hey, Davis. Ready to go?" He then saw the Duel Disk and the guitar on Davis. "Why did you bring those? And are you gonna help me with a song for Alexis?"

"Precaution, part of my other plan, and no," replied Davis. "Now, let's get moving." Davis was going to look out for Syrus. Despite being from different dorms, Syrus was a friend and Davis ALWAYS stuck by his friends. He never let things like social standings stop him.

The pair stole off towards the Obelisk girls' dorm, with Davis feeling more and more apprehensive about the whole thing. Still, Syrus was all for it and looked like he would go even without Kotaro so there was no way to get him to give up. The only way out was to ride it out. Kotaro could only hope that nothing too bad would happen by the end of it.

The girls' dorm was a fair distance and security was constantly on the path that led up to it. It was probably because of a number of kids with influential parents that lived there. The only real way there would have been by boat since there was a lake behind the dorm and a small dock was at one end of the lake. Syrus had leaped into a simple rowboat while Davis had to struggle inside before his short friend took off like a shot.

"I'm coming Alexis, my darling!" Syrus grinned happily as he rowed along the water.

"Shut up, Syrus," Davis grumbled. "And I thought Jaden was the loud one. We'll get caught if you don't!"

"Sorry," Syrus grimaced. "But I don't think I could be any happier right now!"

Davis rolled his eyes. Syrus definitely got a problem.

* * *

Inside the dorm, four girls were in their swimsuits and enjoying the hot water of the wading pool as they chatted about things that girls their age liked to talk about.

"Can you believe what that Jaden kid said to Dr. Crowler in class today?" asked the redhead Jasmine. "Totally disrespectful. Don't you think so Alexis?"

Alexis was content in the hot water as she toweled her face. She wasn't listening very well to the conversation since she wanted to enjoy the water, "I think it was rather cool."

"I believe so, too," agreed Rachel.

"What? Him? No way!" Jasmine cried out.

"Well, you never know," the girl with black hair in a ponytail smiled impishly. Her name was Mindy. "He might be…if he had the skills to back up his talk."

"Well, if you want disrespectful how about that kid with the Avengers cards?" asked Jasmine with a frown. "I've heard Chazz and his cronies ranting up and down the halls about what that Ra kid said and did. The nerve!"

Rachel remembered how Davis didn't think much about some of the Obelisks, but he was right about Raizou since he did get the best cards because of his parents getting them for him. He barely knew how to use those cards.

"Well, he's entitled to his opinion," Alexis shrugged. "Chazz and his buddies aren't the best example of Obelisks. He was rather polite to me."

"What do you mean?" asked Jasmine. "Chazz is one of our top duelists."

"Well, Chazz can be a real jerk," Mindy nodded. "It's because of guys like him that Obelisk students aren't as popular as we could be."

"Whatever," Jasmine huffed. "Still, if I ever manage to get that Ra kid alone, I'm gonna duel him and show him what a real Obelisk can do."

"Well, from what I saw, he's not bad," Rachel smiled. "Still, I wouldn't mind going up against Jaden. I'm curious to see if he's really all talk or not."

* * *

"We're here!" Syrus smiled as he leaped from the boat. Davis grumbled as he quickly followed.

The pair ran up to the front gates of the dorm. Syrus just blew on past, but Davis noticed something on the ground. Kneeling down, he found that it was a chain and a broken lock. Logically, it was the chain and lock that kept the gates closed and intruders outside.

"Okay, this definitely has to be a set up." The Avenger duelist frowned as he looked up to see Syrus still running forward. "Syrus!" He then ran after him. "Damn, that kid can run fast…" Little did they both know that Crowler was hiding in the bushes, wearing a tight, black leotard for some strange reason.

_'This will be perfect, thanks to that faux love letter I wrote! I'll just wait here for Jaden to come around while he searches for Alexis. And when the time's right, I'll snap a picture of him, creating evidence that will get him expelled!'_ Crowler laughed in his thoughts. He then saw someone coming. "There you are Jaden. You're falling right into my trap. Fall for it. Fall for it like the Slifer Sap you are." He snickered softly.

"Alexis?!" Syrus called out.

"Syrus!" Davis cried. The Obelisk Headmaster's eyes bugged out to his horror.

"That's not Jaden! It's that stammering Field Spell nitwit! And what is that Ra kid with those Avengers cards doing here?!" Crowler shrieked. His yelling ended up attracting some trouble.

"It's a boy!" a voice cried out.

"I'm not a boy, I'm a man…" Crowler said, thinking he was discovered. "Oh forget it… You didn't see me… You didn't see me…" He said getting away in hopes of not getting caught and dove into the water to escape, clumsily. Thankfully for Crowler, it wasn't him the girls spotted, it was Syrus and Davis. The two boys were mobbed by several angry girls dressed in both their pajamas and their school uniforms. Then they were forced to their knees with several girls pinning their arms behind their backs and all of the girls gave them both dirty looks.

"Man… can today possibly get any worse?" Davis muttered to himself.

"Please let us go!" Syrus whimpered. He was so scared that he might wet himself. Two girls stepped out the crowd. It was Jasmine and Mindy, only they were in their towels that were wrapped around their bodies.

"Not until you tell us why you're both here." Jasmine said crossly. "And it better be good."

* * *

A short time later, both Jasmine and Mindy, tied both Syrus and Davis' hands together before dragging them both into the dorm for a proper interrogation. Adding on to it, Alexis and Rachel, who were late to see the excitement and surprised to see Syrus and Davis here on the Girls' Dorm. After their friends were dressed and all three questioned the boys.

"Okay, time for an explanation." Jasmine frowned. "What are you two doing here?"

"I bet you're both a pair of peeping toms, aren't you?" Mindy accused.

"No!" Syrus exclaimed fearfully. "Honest! I was just here to meet Alexis!"

"Huh?" the Obelisk girl in question blinked. "But Syrus, I never called you or invited you here."

"Huh? But… the letter." Syrus mumbled, feeling his heart breaking.

"Ok, let me explain…" Davis sighed. He looked up at the three girls. "Syrus found a love letter in his locker before Gym Class. I got suspicious when I saw that the letter was signed Alexis Rhodes."

"Totally." Jasmine nodded. "Your friend is really short and Alexis is really tall, she's great at dueling and he isn't, and she's really hot and…"

"I get it!" Syrus exclaimed.

"Anyway, we needed to confirm this with you Alexis." Davis said.

"Syrus, do you still have this letter?" Alexis asked with her own suspicious frown.

"Yeah, sure." Syrus nodded as he managed to pull the folded letter out of his pocket. Gripping it in his hands he held it up for the Obelisk girl to take. Alexis picked up the letter and unfolded it. She and her friends peered at the letter for a moment to see what was on it. Alexis' frown increased before she looked at the short boy.

"Syrus, this isn't even my handwriting." Alexis sighed. "Not to mention that my name is spelled wrong."

"Huh?!" Syrus gasped in shock.

"I knew it was a set–up." Davis groaned.

"Not only that." Jasmine added. "But this letter is addressed to Jaden Yuki."

"What?!" Syrus cried out. "You mean I can't even get a fake love letter?!"

"You (bleep)ing kidding me?!" Davis yelled. "That's the first thing you check, man! Son of a bitch…" He groaned wearily before looking at Alexis and her friends. "Look, we're terribly sorry about this, we really are. But now that you know we're innocent, mind letting us go?" Alexis seemed to be thinking about it before answering.

"Sure."

"Really?!" was the shocked expression of both Syrus and Davis.

"What?!" was Jasmine's reply. Mindy and Rachel was just calmly watching the whole thing. "You're just going to let them go?! Just like that?!"

"We'll let you go free, if you can beat her in a duel." Alexis said, pointing to Rachel. Davis and Rachel were surprised at this; however, Davis was also excited since he gets to talk to her again.

"Good thing I had my duel disk and deck with me. Alright, you're on."

Davis and Rachel relocated to the main hall of the Obelisk dorm. The rooms were located deeper into the building and no one would be able to hear any of the action that would be going on. Both duelists already inserted their decks. Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy had dragged Syrus off to the sides along with the rest of the Obelisk girls while they watch the duel. Crowler somehow snuck in, still wearing that suit, as he watch nearby at the entrance, but still far away from the students. "Hmm… so it's that Ra vs. one of my Obelisks, eh?"

"Hey Syrus. Make sure you record this on your Duel Pilot." Davis said.

"Uh… okay, sure, but why?" Syrus asked as he took it out.

"Knowing Jaden, even if I did lose, which I won't, he wouldn't want to miss a duel." He said before turning back to Alexis.

"Ready?"

"Ummmmm, before we start," Rachel responded. "I want to know; why do you play those Avengers, anyway?"

"Well…they were a gift from my mom," Davis answered. "She was a card designer for Industrial Illusions. The Avengers cards were supposed to be one of the most promising expansions to date. But…"

"But?" Rachel asked.

"On the day she was supposed to propose the prototype deck to Pegasus, she just suddenly vanished," Davis explained, his voice sound a bit hollow. "Just gone. I found the Avengers inside a secret compartment she kept her prototypes in. Everyone thinks someone took her because they wanted the cards for themselves."

"Oh my God," Jasmine gasped. She had heard about thieves like that in the news. The worst were the fabled Rare Hunters who had supposedly disbanded after Battle City was finished.

"So I use these cards to help remember her," Davis finished. "I also hope to make her work famous by using her cards here in Duel Academy."

"Wow," Mindy blinked, while Jasmine nodded in agreement.

"Well, I had better come at you with all I got then. It wouldn't do not to see how tough the Avengers can really be." Rachell said.

"No it wouldn't," Davis smiled. "Now, are we going to duel?"

"Damn right we are," Rachel grinned as she activated her Duel Disc.

"DUEL!"

**Davis: 4000**

**Rachel: 4000**

Rachel drew her hand and smiled. "Alright, ladies first!" she called.

"Of course," nodded Davis, his cards drawn and in hand. "Go ahead and surprise me."

"Ok," Rachel replied. "I summon Harpie Lady in attack mode!" A flash of light appeared before a gorgeous woman with long red hair and wings and talons appeared on Rachel's side of the field (4/Atk:1300/DEF:1400). Davis had to admit that she was rather fetching. Still, she was the enemy.

"And to add to it, I'll play the magic card Aero Nail!" Jasmine continued as she played the card. A long blade then attached to the wrist of the Harpie Lady (4/Atk:1300-1600/DEF:1400).

"Beat that!" Davis smirked.

"I'll give it my best shot," Davis grinned as he drew his card. He looked at his Hand and gawked at what he got. But then calmed himself down to smirk at Davis.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"What?! Already?!" Rachel asked in a suprised tone.

"I know, right?" Davis said in agreement. "I activate the Spell, Card of Sanctity, then chain it with Offerings to Doomed, and then Chain Summoning!" Everyone gasped as they saw the Avengers duelist play three cards in the same Chain Link.

"Whoa!" Mindy gasped.

"Summoning three Monsters in one turn?!" Jasmine gasped.

"That's right. Chain Summoning allows me to summon three Monsters from my hand if the Chain Link is 3 or higher. Then Offerings to the Doomed destroys one of your Monsters, making me give up my next Draw Phase next turn. But that's okay, thanks to Card of Sanctity." Soon, Chain Summoning flashed to spread its magic over Davis' side of the field. Then, Offerings to the Doomed fired a light laser to blast Harpy Lady into pixels. Then Rachel and Davis drew four thanks to Card of Sanctity.

"Now to take advantage of Chain Summoning," Davis announced, putting three monster cards on the duel tray, "I summon Spider-Girl, Cyclone, and Pikachu!" Davis declared. Spidey (4/Atk:1650/DEF:1200), Maxine(4/Atk:1300/DEF:1700), and Pikachu (3/Atk:1100/DEF:700) then appeared, ready for battle. However after that last summon, all the girls, except Alexis, noticed that last monster summoned.

"Awwwwww! It's so cute!" Jasmine said, allured by its cuteness.

"I want it so bad!" Mindy exclaimed.

_"Pika Pika...,"_ The little creature said in a shy manner.

"Sorry girls. He's not for trade, although...," Davis said, turning to Rachel. "If something happens to me, I would gladly let you borrow my Deck for a while." He then winked at her.

_"Really, Davis?"_ sighed May. 'He wouldn't let anyone use this Deck, but he's gonna make that girl an exception? Now I regret helping him with her.' She thought, feeling true about this matter.

_"What do you expect? He likes her." _Cyclone pointed out.

_"Pikachu.__" _Pikachu said, nodding in agreement.

"Now, to end this already, everyone, attack!"

Cyclone unleashed a blast of wind, colliding with Pikachu's Thunderbolt towards Rachel, resulting in a huge explosion. After that, Spidey swung at her and gave her a aerial roundhouse kick.

**Davis: 4000**

**Rachel: 0**

"Well, I'm done," Davis shrugged as the holograms vanished. Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy were stunned at Rachel losing.

"Me too," Rachel pouted as her own holograms vanished as well.

"Well, that was one of the shortest duels I ever had," Davis stated he walked up to Rachel. "Still though, I had fun dueling you. Maybe we can do it again sometime."

"Well, I guess," Rachel shrugged with a smile. "Don't expect to go this way again though. I'll definitely get better."

"I'll be waiting for you then," Davis chuckled. "Oh, right. I almost forgot. Can you ladies please let Syrus through so he can get something for me?"

The girls nodded and did what he asked. As Syrus went through the door, Crowler did his best to hide from the students. Luckily, Syrus didn't noticed.

_"What is that Ra up to?" _Crowler wondered. As Syrus quickly came back with Davis' guitar, the head hit Crowler right in the nose while Syrus, again, didn't noticed. Not serious but does hurt. _"My nose! That's it! I'm out of here! I'll find some way to make him pay… just as soon as I find a way home." _He then managed to get outside and dropped into the water below.

As he was tuning his guitar, Davis looked up to Rachel. " Thanks for the duel, Rachel. Now this is for you." He strummed a bit before he started singing his cover of "Perfect Two" by Auburn.

_Oh, oh._  
_Yeah, yeah,_  
_Ooh, ooh._

_You can be the peanut butter to my jelly_  
_You can be the butterflies I feel in my belly_  
_You can be the captain and I can be your first mate_  
_You can be the chills that I feel on our first date_

_You can be the hero and I can be your side kick_  
_You can be the tear that I cry if we ever split_  
_You can be the rain from the cloud when it's stormin'_  
_Or you can be the sun when it shines in the mornin'_

"I know this song!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"Me too!" Mindy added.

_Don't know if I could ever be_  
_Without you cause girl you complete me_  
_And in time I know that we'll both see_  
_That we're all we need_

_Cause you're the apple to my pie_  
_You're the straw to my berry_  
_You're the smoke to my high_  
_And you're the one I wanna marry_

_Cause you're the one for me_  
_And I'm the one for you_  
_You take the both of us_  
_And we're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_  
_We're the perfect two_  
_Baby me and you_  
_We're the perfect two_

_You know that I'll never doubt ya_  
_And you know that I think about ya_  
_And you know I can't live without ya_

_I love the way that you smile_  
_And maybe in just a while_  
_I can see me walk down the aisle_

_Cause you're the apple to my pie_  
_You're the straw to my berry_  
_You're the smoke to my high_  
_And you're the one I wanna marry_

_Cause you're the one for me_  
_And I'm the one for you_  
_You take the both of us_  
_And we're the perfect two_

_We're the perfect two_  
_We're the perfect two_  
_Baby me and you_  
_We're the perfect two_

With a little solo of his own, he ended the song with a perfect strum.

"Awwwwww!"

Davis and Rachel looked up to the sudden noise and saw that dozens of Obelisk Blue girls were hanging on the balcony, watching the entire thing.

"You go Rachel!"

"What a guy!"

"I wanna be his baby's mama!"

"Hey Rachel! Are you staking a claim or can I get a date?"

Rachel and Davis blushed at the insinuation of a relationship between them. Apparently the fact that he was Ra Yellow and she was Obelisk Blue didn't seem to matter.

"Where did you all come form?!" Jasmine cried out.

"Oh, we heard some music and decided to check it out. Awesome performance!" one girl answered.

"D'oh!" exclaimed Davis. Oh well. (bleep) happens.

Meanwhile, off to the side, Stinger stood with Bartman OOO by her side.

"_Well, well, well, looks like our young master's done it this time. Got to admit, he got the girl's attention, though,_" teased Bart.

"_Honestly, Bart, don't tease him,_" scolded Cassie.

"_Oh Stinger,_" Bart mock-groaned. "_It's not like you could do any better._"

_"Why you little...!" _Stinger exclaimed as she starts to strangle Bart. _"That'll teach you to make fun of my love life!" _Even though they've been doing this for about 50 times, all Bart can do is to suffer.

"Let's have a rematch one day, ok Rachel?" Davis suggested to Rachel.

"I'd love that."

"Cool. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take Syrus and get out of here before anything else happens." The Avenger duelist then turned towards Syrus. "Get to rowing Sy!"

"Wha–What?!" Syrus exclaimed. "Why do _I_ have to row?"

"I just dueled to keep our butts in the Academy. I wanna rest a bit." Syrus opened his mouth to complain but closed it a moment later. He knew Davis was right, and it was his fault for dragging them here.

"Okay." Syrus then started to row them across the lake. The girls watched as they went, and started to laugh when Davis had to start rowing himself since Syrus couldn't get them that far since he was tired too.

Alexis turned toward Rachel who had a smile on her face. "So what do you think of the Avenger Duelist Rachel?" she asked.

"He's… interesting," Rachel replied. "Let's follow their example and head back into our dorm. Miss Fontaine will be mad if we're not back before curfew."

After sneaking Syrus back to his dorm, Davis hustled back into his own. As he lied down on his bed he let out an exhausted sigh. "Damn, what a night," he whispered to himself.

_"I agree with that,"_ Bartman OOO told him as he appeared. _"You set off a trap, helped out a friend, dueled a very beautiful girl and won. I say that is a pretty eventful night."_

_"You should go out to lunch with Rachel one day,"_ Cyclone told him. _"I would like to meet her again."_

"Sure sure," Davis yawned. Just then, Felecia appeared on his bed and overshadowing his face.

_"Y'know girls fall for guys who give them f__lowers."_

"And your point is...?" Davis asked.

_"I'm just giving you some advice,"_ Felecia replied. _"Take it from me, I had experience."_

_"Just don't rush into it though,"_ Rocket said as she appeared. _"Be sure to get to know her first and see what she is like."_

"Again, I don't get why you guys keep talking about my love life."

_"We're just looking out for you."_ Rikku said as she appeared along with Humberto and May.

_"You gotta keep that smile of yours up until you find your mother. And that Rachel girl is helping keeping that smile."_ Reptil said.

"Great, why don't we just have _everyone_ come and guide me on my love life," Davis muttered sarcastically.

_"That's actually a great idea,"_ Shannon told him as she appeared. _"Everyone come out."_

"What?! No! I was being sarcastic!" Davis yelled frantically, but it was too late. Suddenly the room was full of Avengers. "You've got to be kidding me…" He sweat dropped.

_"We're all here for you buddy."_ Luffy said.

_"And willing to help out too."_ Ben 10 added.

_"Pika pika!"_ Pikachu exclaimed.

"GODDAMMIT! JUST LET ME SLEEEEEEEEEEEP!"


	4. Chapter 4: Rare On!

Above the ocean were a fleet of naval ships and helicopters was approaching a certain island in the region as the Captain look through his binoculars. "Excellent, our job is nearly finished, all we have to do is deliver these new cards to the shop." He said as a silver case was nearby with the insignia of Duel Academy upon it.

"So full steam ahead men so we can complete this mission!" The captain ordered as the fleet approached the island.

Within the Slifer Red Dorm as Jaden was snoring in bed while Syrus was in prayer and dressed in his outfit but he was praying in front of a Slifer the Sky Dragon poster. "Please, please let me pass my examinations today! Or I'll stuck in this place forever, not that's there's anything wrong with red of course, it's great on you Slifer." Syrus had a headband on with three copies of Monster Reborn stuffed inside.

"I wanna be a Ra Yellow! Please give me a sign of your help!" He asked until a loud ringing noise was heard in the room and he jumped. "Oh it's just the alarm clock…and of course Jaden sleeps right through it, how can he be so relaxed when there's so much at stake?" Syrus asked as he knelt beside his friend. "Jaden wake up, if you don't pass these tests, you'll never advance to the next dorm!" Syrus said before being accidentally punched in the face by Jaden stretching. "And I play a Trap!" Jaden called out as Syrus hit the floor.

"Why can't he be ever be asleep in defense mode when I wake him up?" Syrus asked annoyingly.

(At the Ra Yellow Dorm)

Davis was enjoying his peaceful sleep. The pillow was soft, the blanket was comfortable, and he was just content on sleeping, but he was about to get a big wake up call. Bart appeared in spirit form and snickered as he picked up a boombox to play one of the most annoying songs ever (and Bart's favorite of all times) as a wake-up call.

_"Rise and shine buddy!"_ Bart yelled as he turned on the boombox and started singing and dancing to it.

_A-WELL-A-EVERYBODY'S HEARD ABOUT THE BIRD!  
A-WELL-A BIRD BIRD BIRD. B-BIRD'S THE WORD!_

The barbaric booms of the stereos playing 'Surfin' Bird' immediately woke Davis up.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Davis yelled as he jolted up from his bed covering his ears as he fell on the floor back first. "OW!" He cried out in pain from falling over as Bart turned off the boombox. He then rubbed his ears allowing for a while before looking at Bartman OOO. "Damnmit Bart, what the (bleep)?!" He snapped.

_"My way of waking you up__."_ The Avenger apologized. _"By the way, it's test day today."_

"Thanks for that and waking me up; just don't play that song again. I've nearly gone deaf." Davis said still rubbing his ears.

_"Ok."_ Bart said as he disappeared. Davis then went on to get changed into his uniform. For his shirt, he wears a black shirt with a Pikachu on the front. Davis then closed the door to his room and locked it, taking his room key with him and he headed over to the cafeteria for breakfast.

(Later on, in the test room with Prof. Banner)

By now, after breakfast, most of the students were well into the test already. The Obelisks and Ras were doing pretty well, but most of the Slifers were having trouble as it is. For Davis, he was getting the test done, and was already half way done. He should be done in another half hour or so.

(Meanwhile...)

"Man that five course breakfast Chumley cooked, sure was something!" Jaden had finally got out of bed and was dashing to the testing room despite how late he was. Along the path, a heavy–set woman wearing a pink blouse with blue overalls and glasses was having trouble pushing a van that was out of gas by the look of things. Jaden dashed right by her, kicking up a cloud of dust around the woman. But then Jaden skidded to a stop. "To be a gentleman or on time?" He asked himself. "Oh well, seeing as I'm never on time…" He ran back behind the van and gave a helping hand. "Never fear, Jaden's here!"

"Oh good! You must be from the auto club!" The woman replied, thankful for the help.

"Don't let the red jacket fool you," Jaden responded. "I'm just your average good deed dude."

"Isn't that nice?" She replied, but then the van started moving back downhill.

"It'd be nice, if I pushed!" Jaden grunted, pushing the back of the van again. "Now I can skip the gym!"

"You're such a sweet boy!" She said gratefully. "I'll remember this!"

"How about next time, you'll remember that extended warranty." Jaden grunted, but still smiling.

* * *

(Back in the test room...)

"You have forty–five minutes left to finish your test." Banner said to all the students, taking the test. Or at least, everyone that's not asleep. Syrus was falling asleep after all the all–night crammed up studying he was doing.

"…counters a Field Spell… which counters…" Syrus said drowsily. He didn't even answer a single question on the test.

"I didn't know this was an oral exam…" Syrus woke up to Jaden's smiling face.

"You're here." Syrus smiled a bit.

"You two want to keep it down?" Chazz said from his seat up top. "Some of us plan to pass this test."

"Hey, I always plan on passing; it just doesn't end up that way." Jaden argued.

"Oh Jaden…" The argument was cut short when Banner called him. "Why don't you come down here and get your exam."

"Be there in a jiff!" He said as he went to get his exam.

_'He_ better _be.'_ Alexis thought. _'We're already about fifteen minutes into this test. He'd be lucky to even_ finish_.'_

_'Look at him.'_ Bastion thought. _'Tardy and puerile. If only he applied himself, he would be a great duelist.'_

_'I sure hope Jaden knows what he's doing.'_ Rachel thought.

After another forty–five minutes, Davis had finally finished the last Duel Puzzle on the test. That one he was having the hardest trying to figure out. As Davis gave his test to Banner and started walking back up to his seat, the latter cleared his throat, "All right, children, the written exam is now over. Now please walk, do not run to get in line for today's new rare cards."

"They're here?!"

"Oh dear…"

As soon as those words left the professor's mouth, a mass mob of students got up from their seats and started running out with Kurogasa having no time to react being trampled over. "(bllleeeeeeeeeeppppp)!" Davis yelled as he fell down back first. "Ow! Ow! Ow! (bleep)!Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! (bleep)! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! My nuts! Ow! Ow! (bleep)! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! (bleep)! Ow! Ow! (bleep)! (bleep)! (a whole lot of bleeps)!" He said as he was being run over by the sea of students who went to get first dibs on the rare cards as they ran out from the classroom. Of course, only Alexis, Rachel and Chazz walked out and not run. Soon, only Jaden and Syrus, who slept through the whole thing, Bastion and Davis who was still on the floor twitching were left. "Ow…" Davis groaned as he now had shoe prints all over his face and clothes.

"You okay there old chum?" Bastion asked half concerned and half amused as he came up to him.

"Besides being trampled over by a mob of students who want to get first dibs on rare cards, yeah, I'm fine." Davis groaned as he slowly got up from the floor with Bastion helping him up and Davis rubbing off the shoes prints off his face. "Thanks. Damn, talk about a rush hour."

"No kidding. Everyone's trying to improve their decks for the Field Test later on today so it's no surprise there." He then turned to Jaden and Syrus who are still sleeping. "Our friends Syrus and Jaden probably would benefit from the rare cards too."

"We should probably wake them up," Davis sighed. Both Ra Yellow boys went across the room and got to the snoozing Slifer pair. "OI! WAKE UP!" He yelled loudly.

"Aaahhhhh!" both Slifer students cried out, leaping from their seats. Both of them looked to see Bastion and Davis. Syrus rubbed his ear before turning to the pair. "Did you have to be so loud?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." Davis answered.

"*Yawn* Hey guys. Is the test over yet?" Jaden asked sleepily.

"It ended just now." Bastion answered.

"Oh man…" Syrus groaned sadly. "I blew it… I studied all night for nothing."

"You know, if this were a class for melodrama, you'd get an A." Jaden said.

"Cheer up man." Davis assured Syrus. "There's always next time."

"Anyways, everyone left to get the new rare cards that were shipped to Duel Academy this morning. We just thought you two would like to get some rare cards before they're all gone." Bastion said.

"Really?! Sweet! New cards!" Jaden grinned. "Thanks guys! C'mon Syrus! There's nothing like the smell of new cards in the morning!" He said as he grabbed Syrus, much to the latter's dismay, and dragged him out of the room.

"Are you gonna go too?" Davis asked Bastion.

"No. One errant card and the delicate balance of my deck would be thrown off." Bastion replied.

"Oh Davis." Professor Banner called making the Avenger duelist turned to him. "Before you leave, I have something for you."

"Hmm?" Davis wondered as he walked down the steps and to his front desk with Bastion following. "What is it?"

"It's this." Professor Banner said as took it out of his pocket and gave it to him. It was… a pack of cards with a note attached to it.

"A pack of cards?!" Davis gasped a bit.

"Yes. It was given to me by Chancellor Sheppard who got it by mail earlier this morning." Banner explained.

"I see. Thanks Professor." He said then turned to Bastion. "I guess I'll see you at the Gymnasium then for the Field Test."

"Uh–huh." Bastion replied and with that, Davis left the classroom.

At the card shack, the students were banging down on the steel door, hoping to get first dibs on the rare cards before anybody else… then a group of guards suddenly came running towards the card shop and formed two lines to make an aisle.

"Oh children!" the Captain called to the mob of students who were banging up against the metal door blocking the Card Shop. "Looking for these?" The crowd burst into cheers. He held out the brief case. The metal door slid opened a crack. The officer bent down to enter. "Then come and get them." The metal doors opened and the card shop was revealed. The brief case was on a table… but it was empty!

Every student fell down anime style before getting back up. "Where'd they all go?!" A student demanded.

A counter girl was standing by the brief case and so was a man in a long black coat and hat. "You know the rules, first come first serve," the counter girl said.

"And I was here first, so I took everyone!" The man replied. The crowd then went away, with their heads hung low.

* * *

Later, Jaden and Syrus made it to the card shack. "Oh man! Don't tell me they're all out of cards already!" Syrus cried out. They ran to the counter to ask the counter girl, Sadie.

"Excuse me, counter–girl?" Jaden and Syrus went to the counter. "Do you have some packs left?"

"Sure we do, but just the normal ones. Here you go." She slid a single pack across the table.

"We said some, not one," Jaden complained.

"I'm done for," Syrus whined. "I slept through the written part of the exam and now I'm going to fail the field part because I can't upgrade my deck."

"Then you take the pack, Sy." Jaden offered.

"Really? You would give me the last pack that they have?" Syrus asked. "But what if… what if you fail?"

"I may flunk now and then but I never fail." Jaden said with confidence.

* * *

Meanwhile, Chazz's friends had just explained what happened at the card shop to him. "We couldn't get you a single one, sorry, Chazz." Raizou said.

"You know what's sorry? You two, but it doesn't matter, because there's not a single Duelist at this school who can beat me no matter what card they carry."

"Unless that single Duelist happens to be Jaden Yuki." The three Obelisk Blues turned to see a man in a long black coat and hat.

"Who are _you_?" Chazz asked.

"Somebody who thinks you despise Jaden Yuki as much as I do."

"That's him!" Torimaki cried. "That's the guy who took all of the rare cards!"

"Rare cards, _what_ rare cards? Oh, you mean… _these_?!" He spread his jacket open to reveal row after row of cards.

"Enough of the disguise," Chazz said. "Tell me who you really are!"

"Don't recognize me, Chazz? Well, how about _now_!" He threw off his hat to reveal himself…

"Oh, it's just Crowler…" Chazz said dismissively.

Crowler fell down anime style before getting back up. "Is that any way to talk to the one who's going to help you beat Jaden Yuki on the Field Test?!"

"But we're not in the same dorm," Chazz pointed out. "So I _can't_ be his test opponent!"

"Well I'll _make_ that happen, you just be sure to use these rare cards in the Field Test against him. Put him in his place once and for all in front of the entire Academy!" Crowler said as he laughed evilly. Little did they know that some certain Avenger spirits were watching. Stinger and Pikachu saw what they saw just now, and the incident at the card shop. Not to mention that they were inside the card shop when it happened too.

_"Pikaaa…"_ Pikachu said.

_"We better tell Davis…"_ Cassie added. And then they disappeared.

After lunch, Davis was in his room changing some cards in his deck, mostly spells and traps, and then changed into a new shirt, blazers, and pair of pants. His shirt was blue with American Dream's shield on the front. He now looked at the pack of cards he had recently gotten. Bartman OOO and Ben 10 appeared in spirit form.

_"Who's the letter from?"_ Bart asked.

"Don't know." Davis answered as he now opened the note. "It's from Pegasus." He said as he now read the letter.

_Dear Davis,_

_I hope that this pack of cards and note came to you alright. Inside, are eleven brand new cards I made specifically for your deck. Use them well. And I hope that you find your dear mother soon._

_Signed,_

_Maximillion Pegasus_

_"From Pegasus huh? That was nice of him."_ Ben said.

"Yeah. Well, let's see what we got." Davis said as he opened up the pack from its silver colored package prison and it revealed as Pegasus said in the letter, eleven brand new cards specifically made for his deck. Davis grinned at this. "Hey, look at this; you got new forms to go in Ben! There's also a Spell Card to call your new form out, Bart, and the weapons for you and Pikachu are here too."

_"Oh good."_ Bart said.

_"Time for me to check out one of my new forms!" _Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix. After being engulfed in a bright light, in his place was soe sort of cyclopean alien with plugs on ieachof its antennae and fingertips. The symbol was on its chest._ "Aww, yeah! Feedback!" _Ben (as Feedback) cried out.

"And it looks I got a couple of Spell, and Traps to go with the deck too. Yep, these cards will definitely be good for the deck." Davis said and added them to his deck.

Just then, Stinger and Pikachu appeared in spirit form.

_"Davis, we just saw something we should tell you about."_ Stinger said. _"And it's not good…"_

A couple minutes later…

"WHAT?!" Davis shouted. "Crowler took all the rare cards that was shipped in this morning and gave them to Chazz so he can beat Jaden in the Field Test?!"

_"Pretty much."_ Cassie said.

_"Why would he even do such a thing?"_ Ben asked when he turned back to his human form.

"Damn… it's all because Jaden beat Crowler at the entrance exams and he's been seething from that ever since." Davis growled. "I'm telling ya, this whole social status thing between the dorms is ridiculous and Crowler's probably the bane of it all."

_"Well then, let's kick his ass already!"_ Bartman OOO said.

"It's not that simple." Davis said. "By all means, I'd love to, but if I do that, I could definitely get expelled. And also, even if I did tell the teachers what Cassie and Pikachu told me, they wouldn't believe me because I don't have any clear evidence. Well… technically yes because of you Cassie and Pikachu, but they probably wouldn't believe I have all of you and the others as Duel Spirits." Davis paced around the room like a tiger in a cage for a while thinking of what to do before coming to a decision. "I guess the best thing we can do is hope Jaden can win against Chazz to foil Crowler's plan."

_"Are you sure that's a wise decision?"_ Cassie asked.

"No doubt it's not the best decision, but it's better than nothing. Let's head to the gymnasium for our Field Test."

* * *

At 2:00, The Field Test had begun. There were six dueling fields side by side. As he walked up to his field, he saw his opponent, who was also a Ra Yellow, who had pale forest green hair. His name was Brier. He met him during the first day of Duel Academy at the Welcome Dinner. He was a great duelist, but the problem is, he's shy crowds and around people.

"Hey Brier. Looks like I'll be your test opponent today." Davis greeted.

"Y–Yeah, I guess…" Brier said shyly while stammering.

"Dude, just relax. You'll do fine." The Avenger Duelist assured him.

"I–I know… but…" Brier began.

"Look, don't worry about the people watching, just focus on me and the duel, and you'll do fine."

"O–Okay." Brier said then straightened himself out. "Alright, let's do this!" He said activating his duel disk.

"That's more like it." Davis smirked and took his deck out of his deck box. He then inserted the deck into disk turning it from standby to active. Both players drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

**Davis:** 4000

**Brier:** 4000

"I'll start first!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. He looked at his hand and smiled at what he got. "Nice… First I'll summon my Ben 10 in ATK mode!"The said wielder of the Omnitrix appeared (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500). "And next I activate his his special ability! By sending him back to my Deck, I can Special Summon an "Omnitrix" monster from my Hand or Deck. And i choose Four Arms!" As he placed that card, Ben searched and found the said alien in the Omnitrix. Once he pressed it, a bright green flash engulfed him, and a tall, red alien with four arms appeared in his place (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000). Everyone looked at Four Arms in awe. _"Alright!" _Ben exclaimed as he flexed his muscles.

"Oh man…" Brier groaned.

"Relax Brier, it's just only my first turn, and I can't attack anyways. So I'll end my turn with a facedown. Your move." Davis finished as he placed a reverse card on the field.

"A–Alright then. I–It's my turn! Draw!" Brier declared drawing his next card. "I–I summon Goblin Attack Force in ATK mode!" A mob of four green goblins in armor appeared on the field with clubs in hand (4/ATK: 2300/DEF: 0). "And then I'll play the Quick–Play Spell, Forbidden Chalice! I raise its ATK by 400 and its effect is negated for the turn." A goblet of water appeared over the goblins and poured holy water over them.

Goblin Attack Force (4/ATK: 2300–2700/DEF: 0)

"Nice. That way, after it attacks, it won't go to DEF mode after. That's pretty good. However, y'know my Four Arms is still stronger." Davis stated.

"Ughh… I'll place one card facedown." Brier stated placing a reverse card on the field. "T–That ends my turn." Goblin Attack Force's stats went to normal.

"My move!" Davis declared drawing his next card. "I summon Rocket in ATK mode!" He declared as Raquel appeared (4/ATK: 1550/DEF: 1400). "Now I'll have my Four Arms attack Goblin Attack Force!" Four Arms charged into the Goblin Army and pummels them one by one as each were destroyed into pixels.

**Davis:** 4000

**Brier:** 3500

"Now Rocket will attack directly!" As soon as he declared that move, Raquel flew towards Brier and charged up her Repulsors. _"Repulsor Blasts!" _Rocket shouted as she shot a barrage of that attack on him.

**Davis:** 4000

**Brier:** 2050

"Now I'll end my turn." Davis said.

"M–My turn!" Brier declared drawing his next card. "I activate Earthquake to switch all monsters to DEF mode!" The floor shook on the field and Rocket and Four Arms were forced on their knees. "Then I activate my facedown card, Micro Ray!" He said next revealing his facedown. "Four Arm's DEF is 0!" A light shined on Ben causing the latter to cover his eyes.

Four Arms (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000–0)

"Now I summon Asura Priest!" A blue skinned man with yellow lines all over with three heads blue hair tied in a ponytail wearing robes with six arms appeared (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000). "And next I'll equip him with Big Bang Shot to increase his ATK by 400 and the ability to deal Piercing Damage!" Asura Priest with power.

Asura Priest (4/ATK: 1700–2100/DEF: 1000)

"This is gonna hurt…" Davis muttered.

"Now I'll attack both your Four Arms and Rocket!" Brier declared. Asura Priest then puts his three pairs of hands together chanted something ominous before his eyes opened up glowing yellow and send blue energy in the form of hands and crushed Four Arms and Rocket.

**Davis:** 1200

**Brier:** 2050

"I'll end there. And now Asura Priest goes back to hand since he's a Spirit." Brier said as Asura Priest disappeared and Brier placed the card back in his hand. And Big Bang Shot was destroyed.

"Wow, for someone who's nervous, you got a good chunk at my Life Points. Pretty good."

"Thanks." Brier thanked.

"I better step it up. My turn! Draw!" Davis declared drawing one card. "Since you destroyed an "Omnitrix" monster, Ben 10 comes back!" Davis said as Ben 10 reappeared on the field. "Now I'll activate his ability again, this time bringing out a new "Omnitrix"monster to the field, so I'm summoning Feedback!" He said as he placed his initial form in the Deck and replaced it with his new form. He pressed the Omnitrix, triggering his transformation into the electricity-based hero (4/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200).

"First I activate his special ability which will give me LP equal to the number of cards in my Hand times 200, I'll then summon Bartman OOO!" As he said, the alien had "plugged" his antennae into Davis' Duel Disk and sent a jolt of electricity, giving Davis a handful of LP.

**Davis:** 2200

**Brier:** 2050

And then the silhouette of the man appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. He took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor. Becoming Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"Now guys! Attack!" Feedback charges up to deliver a blow until...

"I–I'll play this! The Quick–Play Spell, Quick Summon, I'll summon Asura Priest in DEF mode facedown!" A card appeared horizontally facedown. But nonetheless, Feedback continued his attack, sending a blast of electricity to the Priest, destroying him into pixels.

"Saved yourself there huh?" Davis said. "You're tougher than I thought. But you forgot about my Bartman! Bart?"

"I got it!" Bart took out his Medal Scanner before swipes it onto his belt for a finisher.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

He then jumped and, as three circles corresponding to his Medals appear, went through them before ending with a powerful kick at Brier.

**Davis:** 2200

**Brier:** 50

"I'll end with a facedown."

"My move!" Brier said drawing his next card. "I play Card of Sanctity! This lets us both draw until we have six cards!" Both players drew until they had six. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Goblin Attack Force!" The mob of goblins returned to the field. "Then I'll summon my Goblin Elite Attack Force!" Four goblins in suits of knights' armor appeared (4/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1500). "Next I'll play Shrink, cutting Feedback's ATK power in half!" Feedback shrunk down to half his height.

Feedback (4/ATK: 2100–1050/DEF: 1200)

"Goblin Elite Attack Force, attack Feedback!" The group of knight goblins got in formation and went straight for Feedback ready to attack with their swords in hand.

"I activate the Trap, No Entry!" Davis declared revealing his facedown. "All our Monsters are now switched to DEF mode!" The mob and knight goblins and the Avengers took a knee.

"Ohhh… I end my turn." Brier groaned.

"My turn! Draw!" Davis declared drawing his next card. He looked at the card he drew and grinned at what he got.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"Huh?" Brier asked completely caught off guard on that. Even some of the people watching their murmured at this.

"And there it is again." Bastion stated. "He's got the duel won, the moment he drew something he needed.

"First I switch Feedback to ATK mode and activate hs ability again!" Feedback stood up and did the same thing as last time.

**Davis:** 3200

**Brier:** 50

"Now I play the Spell Card OOO Roulette!" Davis declared playing the card. "I roll a die, and OOO will gain a new form depending on the roll. Go, dice roll!" He yelled. A huge die came out of the card and dropped to the ground. It rolled, for a few seconds until it landed on a 6. "Yeah! It landed on a 6! With that, I can Special Summon Bartman OOO – PuToTyra Form! And I'll special summon him from my Hand!" Davis took out the three coins and replaced them with three purple ones, all in different shades. One had a picture of a pterodactyl; another had a triceratops, and the last one, a T–Rex. He placed them in their respective slots and OOO scanned the medals.

**PTERADACTYL! ****TRICERATOPS! ****TYRANNOSAURUS! PUTOTYRA!**

**PU–TO–TYRANNOSAURUS!**

**BGM: Power to Tearer**

OOO became surrounded by spinning purple colored Medals. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Pteradactyl was on the top, Triceratops was in the middle, and Tyranno saurus was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor.

A purple aura burst from OOO's body as the armor formed on my body and once it had completely formed. The head helmet was like Great Hawk Helm only it was a pterodactyl and he had green lenses for his eyes. Then there were the Tricera Arms where the shoulders have Triceratop–like horns, one mounted on each shoulder the Tyranno Leg armor were shaped like those of a T–Rex. The whole armor was purple, but this time, instead of the black seen on the armor form of OOO, this one had white to go with the purple. The O–Lung Circle crest was surrounded by a golden ring which sported a purple emblem of the pterodactyl on top, triceratops in the middle, and T–Rex on the bottom (8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).

"Next I'll activate this Equip Spell, Medagabryu!" Davis said playing the last card. Bart puts his hand on the ground and cracks on the floor were made. He pulled out his arm to reveal the Medagabryu, which was an axe with a T–Rex head built into it (8/ATK: 3000-4000/DEF: 2500)."When it's equipped to OOO in PuToTyra Form, he can do double the Piercing Damage."

"WHAT?!" Brier gasped.

"Bartman OOO, finish it off with PuToTyranno Hissatsu on the Knights!" Davis ordered. Bart nodded and then pull out a silver with an X on it and placed it inside the blade of the axe.

**MUNCH!**

He then closed the maw of the T–Rex's mouth and then flipped it to Cannon Mode and aimed at the goblin knights. The Medagabryu in Cannon Mode then started gathering energy.

**PU–TO–TYRANNO HISSA~TSU!**

_"SEE–YAAAAAH!"_ Eiji then fired the gun/axe shooting a purple beam out of it and hitting its mark at the knight goblins and destroying them into pixels as Brier's Life Points depleted.

**Davis:** 3200

**Brier:** 0

**BGM Ends**

* * *

The holograms disappeared and the duel disks deactivated. Some of the people cheered at the duel that just happened. Davis went up to Brier. "You did good Brier."

"Yeah, but I still lost." Brier said sadly.

"True, but you did it all without acting all nervous and you stayed focused. That's good. Sure, you'll most likely not get promoted since you lost, but I'm sure this duel will give you some high marks on your record."

"Y–You think so?"

"Definitely. You just gotta practice more and who knows, you might get promoted."

"A–Alright." He said smiling a bit.

* * *

A little later on after Davis left the arena and Bastion winning his duel, the two met up at the stands. "Hey Bastion, great duel out there."

"Thank you." Bastion said politely.

"Hey there people!" a girl's voice said. Davis and Bastion turned to see Rachel coming towards them.

"Hey Rachel." Davis greeted. "How was your duel?"

"It went great. I won."

"Cool. Now let's see this last match that's going to happen…" Davis said turning to the field and saw Jaden and Chazz about to go against each other.

"Wait, what?!" Rachel asked in disbelief looking at the gymnasium floor as well.

Jaden gasped, "You mean I'm dueling an Obelisk and it's Chazz?" He asked Crowler who was judging their exam.

"That's right, Jaden," the teacher confirmed. "Since you always talk such a big game, I decided to pull some strings for you so you got the challenge you deserve." He pointed to Chazz, "So congratulations, you'll be dueling one of the top ranked students at the school, what an honor! I sure hope you were able to snag a lot of today's rare cards so that your deck's up to snuff."

_'Yeah right, Crowler, you're the a-hole that stole them all and gave them to Chazz.'_ Davis growled in his thought.

"What's wrong, aren't you going to thank me?" Crowler asked.

_'I have a bad feeling about this.'_ Syrus thought.

_'This is clearly a trap,'_ Bastion thought. _'Crowler hopes to expel Jaden by having him duel a powerful opponent with nothing stacked in his favor. Only a cavalier fool would agree to this.'_

"I'll do it!"

Everyone gasped at Jaden's answer.

"Is he crazy?!" Rachel practically screamed out. Davis could only narrow his eyes as he watched.

"All right, Chazz, get your game on," Jaden said. "Now we'll get to finish what we started at Obelisk Arena."

"Indeed," Crowler said indifferently. "And in front of the whole school too so everyone can watch."

"Yeah, watch you get slammed by me," Chazz jabbed. They inserted their decks into their Duel Disks and drew their starting hand with Crowler running out of the way.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Chazz:** 4000

**Jaden:** 4000

"No excuses this time, Chazz."

"Bring it, Slifer Slacker!"

"Oh, it's brought! My draw!" Jaden drew his sixth card.

_"Coooo."_

"Well, if it isn't my favorite furry friend," Jaden said looking at his Winged Kuriboh card he just drew. _'Kuriboh, you're in for a treat, because we're about to rain down some serious moves on Chazz.'_ "You remember this guy from our first duel, don't you, Chazz? Elemental Hero Clayman!" Jaden summoned a bulky rock warrior in DEF mode (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 2000). "And he'd like to get reacquainted."

"Not after he sees what _I_ got for him. Don't think that overgrown pile of pebbles stand a chance against me, or against this!" He drew a card. _'Appreciate the rare cards, Crowler.'_ "Fresh off the presses, Magical Mallet!"

"What's that?" Jaden asked.

"A redo. All the cards in my hand that I don't want I return to my deck and then I can draw the same number of cards."

"A rare card on the first draw?" Syrus gasped.

"And a very dangerous card at that," Bastion explained. "Now Chazz will be able to pick exactly which cards he wants and which cards he doesn't."

"I didn't even get to the best part," Chazz said, redrawing from his deck and showing Magical Mallet again. "You see, Jaden, I got to shuffle Magical Mallet too! So if I drew it again, which I just did, I can play it again and again. And that comes in handy, know why? Because it comes in handy when I'm looking for this! V–Tiger Jet, sharpen your claws for ATK mode!" A yellow mechanical tiger, shaped like a fighter jet appeared. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800)

"Not good…" Davis groaned.

"And there's a lot more where that came from! Check out the magic of Frontline Base, it lets me summon a level 4 or below monster this turn. And I have just the one, W–Wing Catapult!" A blue jet platform appeared. (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500) "Gentlemen, start your engines!" The set of wings took off and the V–Tiger Jet soon joined it. "Now merge!" The Catapult revealed two missile launchers. The Tiger Jet landed on top of it. Thruster units appeared on the back of both the machines. (6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2100) "All right, the VW–Tiger Catapult!"

"Oh man… Jaden's gonna have a hard time with this duel now." Davis cringed.

"But wait, I'm not done yet, because he still has his special ability." Chazz told Jaden.

"That's not good," Jaden muttered.

"Is this guy's turn going to end sometime this century?" Syrus asked.

"By sending a card to the graveyard, I can force one of your monsters into ATK mode!" The card face Clayman was kneeling on disappeared as he stood up. "So after this Heat–Seeker Blitz from my Tiger Catapult, your life points are toast!" The Tiger Catapult fired its missiles and destroyed Clayman.

**Chazz:** 4000

**Jaden:** 2800

Crowler saw all this from the special viewing box where he was watching with Chancellor Shepherd. "My goodness, looks like Jaden can't play with the big boys after all. I guess he's not as good as he thinks."

Shepherd just stared out the window.

"I'll finish up with one card facedown." Chazz said as a reverse card appeared on the field.

"You go ahead and finish up while I'm just getting _warmed_ up." He drew a card. "Speaking of, here's a guy who can really turn up the heat, Elemental Hero Sparkman in DEF mode!" The warrior in the yellow and blue armor suit appeared crossing his arms (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "And I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn."

"Not much else he can do with all the new rare cards Chazz seems to have," Bastion said.

Alexis was also watching the duel but from behind. _'This is a complete mismatch, how can Jaden fight back if he doesn't know what he's fighting?'_

"Ready for round two, Slifer Slime?" A blue machine with a spike ball lower region and two cannon barrels on its shoulders appeared. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500) "Well X–Head Cannon is and thanks to Frontline Base, so is Z–Metal Tank." A yellow tank that looked more like some kind of cruiser than an actual tank also appeared. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1300)

"Wait, X _and_ Z?" Syrus said. "That can mean only one thing…"

"Now I play my facedown card," Chazz said as his trap card was lifted up. "Call of the Haunted, and in case you slept through that class as well, it lets me bring a monster back from the graveyard. And I choose…" A red metallic dragon appeared. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600)

"It's him!" Syrus gasped.

"He has it!" Bastion confirmed.

"Oh no!" Rachel gasped.

"That's right, it's Y–Dragon Head! I discarded it with my Tiger Catapult's special ability." The new monsters flew up. "And next I'll combine them to create the XYZ–Dragon Cannon!" The monsters then attached themselves with X–Head Cannon on top, Y–Dragon Head in the middle, and Z–Metal Tank on the bottom (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600)

"Now Chazz has two monsters out with over 2000 attack points each," Bastion said.

"Damn it!" Davis cringed his face in anger clenching his fist. "It's over!"

"But wait, Jaden, there's more." Jaden gasped. Kurogasa blinked at this. "Actually, less, you see they say that two heads are better than one. But I would have to disagree, especially when the one in question is the ultimate V to Z Dragon Catapult Cannon!" The two machines joined and transformed. The new creation looked vaguely humanoid and was made up of all the machine monsters Chazz had. (10/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2800)

Davis scoffed in relief. "Jaden, you lucky son of a bitch. You lucked out."

"What do you mean he lucked out?" Rika asked in disbelief.

"Chazz could've ended it right there, but his arrogance of making V to Z Dragon Catapult Cannon got in the way."

"Makes your Sparkman look like a spark plug, or at least it did." Chazz said as Sparkman disappeared.

"My Sparkman!" Jaden cried as the audience gasped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I mention V to Z's special ability? He allows me to remove one card on your side of the field once per turn." He chuckled. "And if you think that's impressive, wait until you see its attack, an attack that will strike your life points directly."

"Not so fast, Chazz, I have a trap, A Hero Emerges!"

"Blast!" Crowler cried.

"A Hero what?"

"Emerges, as in emerges onto the field. You see, now you have to choose a card from my hand and if it's a monster card, I get to play it. So take your pick, Chazz."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, the far right."

"Sweet, Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, I'll play her in DEF mode." The fiery female hero took a defensive stance. (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)

"That's what you think, you Slifer Slacker, when Dragon Catapult Cannon attacks, I get to switch one of your monsters into ATK mode." Burstinatrix stood. "Which means not only will she get zapped!" The Dragon Catapult Cannon fired a lightning blast. Burstinatrix cried out in pain as she was destroyed. "But your life points will too."

**Chazz:** 4000

**Jaden:** 1000

The crowd gasped.

"Aww, what's the matter, Jaden, having some test anxiety?" Chazz taunted. "I knew scum like you didn't belong at this Academy, but don't worry because it will all be over soon!"

"No way, Chazz, I still have a whole army of vicious monsters in my deck ready to get at you. This isn't over, it's only just barely started! My draw!" He drew a card.

And gasped. "Hey, this is…"

* * *

Flashback

_"Excuse me, counter–girl?" Jaden and Syrus went to the counter. "Do you have some packs left?"_

_"Sure we do, but just the normal ones. Here you go." She slid a single pack across the table._

_"We said some, not one," Jaden complained._

_"I'm done for," Syrus whined. "I slept through the written part of the exam and now I'm going to fail the field part because I can't upgrade my deck."_

_"Then you take the pack, Sy." Jaden offered._

_"Really? You would give me the last pack that they have?" Syrus asked. "But what if… what if you fail?"_

_"I may flunk now and then but I never fail." Jaden said with confidence._

_"Yoo–hoo! Auto club!" A voice said from the counter, it was the same heavyset woman that Jaden helped out._

_"Oh hey there Ms. Uh…"_

_"Dorothy." The heavyset woman said._

_"Got it. So you work here too?" Jaden asked._

_"No, I don't work here, I own here. Pretty cool huh?" Dorothy said._

_"No, it's totally sweet."_

_"How do you know her Jaden?" Syrus asked._

_"Oh uh, I think it was the carburetor." Jaden smiled goofily._

_"By the way, I have something for you." Dorothy said making her giggle as Jaden and Syrus looked at her. "Just call it a thank you for helping me. Now I know I said we ran out of cards, but I did hide away few." She said as he pulled a few packs of cards. "For polite students like yourself. Maybe you can put them to some good use. When you're not fixing cars that is." Jaden said look at her and the packs of cards dumbfounded. And that's an understatement._

End Flashback

* * *

"What do you think, Winged Kuriboh?" Jaden asked. The card cooed in agreement. "Well, all right, if you say so, let's do it! I summon Winged Kuriboh in DEF mode!" The Kuriboh with white wings appeared. (1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200) Suddenly, all most of the females in the crowd squealed at its cuteness with Winged Kuriboh actually sweat dropping at this. And unfortunately Syrus, Bastion, and Davis, they were in the center of it all. "And I'll throw down a facedown." Jaden concluded. "That's it."

"That's it?" Syrus asked. "All he's done is play defense."

"Let's hope that facedown of his helps." Davis stated.

_'I sure hope Jaden knows what he's doing,'_ Alexis thought looking at Jaden wide–eyed.

"That's all, huh? Good, because now I get to cook that Kuriboh and I like mine well done." Chazz said as he drew a card. "There's about to be a fried furball on the Field, you loser!"

"You don't scare me!" Jaden argued.

"I don't have to, that's _his_ job." Chazz said pointing at the Dragon Catapult Cannon. "Dragon Catapult Cannon attack!" A giant blast of energy headed right for Winged Kuriboh.

"JADEN!" Syrus cried.

_'Secret weapon time'_. Jaden ditched two cards to his Graveyard. "Not so fast, Chazz, by sending two cards to the graveyard, I can activate my facedown card Transcendent Wings!"

"WHERE DID HE GET THAT?!" Crowler cried. Winged Kuriboh's wings suddenly grew and deflected the blast.

"It can't be!" Chazz exclaimed.

"Oh it be," Jaden confirmed. "Transcendent Wings has evolved Winged Kuriboh into a level 10 monster." Winged Kuriboh Level 10 was now wrapped in a helmet that looked like a dragon with extremely large angelic–like wings. (10/ATK: 300/DEF: 200) "And it gets better, by sacrificing itself, Winged Kuriboh destroys all monsters in ATK mode and deflects their ATK points back as damage to you. Kuriboh, show him how it's done!" Dragon Catapult Cannon's blast was reflected back at the machine and it was destroyed.

**Chazz:** 1000

**Jaden:** 1000

The crowd gasped at this. "Lucky punk," Chazz said glaring daggers at Jaden.

"Lucky?" Jaden asked. "Nah, I just happen to have a soft spot for old ladies. But not for you, Chazz, and that's too bad because with a thousand life points apiece and my turn coming up, all I need is the right monster and you'll be finished."

"You're bluffing!"

"Maybe, but it _would_ be interesting if that happened right? Here goes something!" Jaden drew a card. "Yes! Elemental Hero Avian!' The feathered E–Hero appeared, shocking all of the spectators (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). "Attack!" The winged hero charged forward and slashed its claws across at Chazz.

**Chazz:** 0

**Jaden:** 1000

* * *

"He did it!" Syrus cried happily.

"Impossible!" Crowler cried leaning against the glass. "Not with all the rare cards I gave Chazz, this simply can't be!"

"Rare cards, what exactly are you talking about, Crowler?" Sheppard asked.

Crowler jumped, right now, he realized he talked loud enough for Chancellor Sheppard to hear. "Uh… nothing… I… uh… have to go grade some tests." He quickly walked off. Shepherd laughed at Crowler's back. Unknown to Crowler, Davis watched the whole thing and smirked.

"Hmph. Serves you right you bastard. Your plot to humiliate and possibly expel Jaden has failed." Davis smirked and went to the field to meet Jaden.

Jaden waved to the crowd who was cheering for him, and pointed at Chazz. "That's game," Jaden said doing his signature pose. "Unless you want to duel again."

"Oh we will…" Chazz hissed.

"Jaden!"

"Hey Jaden!" Syrus, Davis, Rachel, and Bastion ran up to him.

**"That was well done, Jaden."** It was Chancellor Shepherd, speaking over a loudspeaker. **"Never in the history of our revered Academy has a Slifer ever dueled an Obelisk at these exams. Not only did you hold your own, but you won! Your courage against overwhelming odds is… inspiring. It is with great pride that I grant you the promotion to Ra Yellow. Good job!"**

The crowd cheered again.

"You're the best, Jaden!" Syrus complimented throwing him a hug.

"I do what I can," Jaden said with a smile.

"Great duel out there!" Rachel praised.

"Yes, good show, Jaden, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Ra dorm." Bastion offered.

"Don't forget me." Davis said.

"Thanks guys," Jaden said shaking hands with both of the Ra Yellow students.

* * *

Later that night at the Slifer dorm, Chumley and Syrus were in their room.

"Hey Syrus, if you're not gonna do anything constructive, then you might as well make me a grilled cheese." The koala boy said.

"I just thought Jaden would say goodbye to us at least… that's all." Syrus said sadly.

"Hey guys." A voice said. Syrus and Chumley turned to see… Jaden?

"Jaden?! Why are you here?!"

"I wanted to say congrats on passing your Field Test. Also, in case you've forgotten," he placed his hands on his hips, "I _live_ here!"

"Huh?!"

Jaden shrugged, "Sure, Ra Yellow has nice, clean sheets, lack of cockroaches, and those spiffy blazers, but without you Syrus, it's not my home!" he explained. Syrus sniffed and dove at him, tears falling from his eyes like a waterfall. His roommate squirmed, "Hey! Easy, Syrus, you're getting my jacket soaked!"

Syrus looked up, tears still going, "I thought… I thought I lost you forever! Now I'm never letting go!"

Jaden sweat dropped, "Just chill out, Syrus! Come on, get off!"

"Let me just give you a few more hugs!"

"It's not the hugs, it's the waterworks!" Jaden laughed.

Chumley laughed as well.


	5. Chapter 5: Dealing with Shadows

Chapter 5: Dealing with the Shadows

The Abandoned Dorm, a forbidden place in Duel Academy, and a spooky one at that. It wasn't like any of the dorms. It was a large, run–down building with boards over the windows and the front door broken open. Even though the place was deserted and abandoned, one person frequently visited since she came to the island. Alexis Rhodes. She walked through the trees and stopped right at the wall and 'Do not enter' sign. Next, she laid down a red rose at base of the wall…

"Be at peace brother, wherever you are…"

* * *

Meanwhile…

At the Slifer dorm's mess hall Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were telling ghost stories along with Davis showing up. He got introduced to Chumley and after that continued to tell ghost stories. As of now, it was Syrus's turn.

"I went out into the woods, and underneath the full moon, I see a path leading to a cavern that seems… abandoned!" Syrus said taking his turn.

"Oh really?" Jaden asked interested. "And then what?"

"Then at the back of the cavern I see a mysterious lake. So I go in to look very carefully. And under just the right angle of light, at the very bottom of the lake beyond my reflection, I see a rare and powerful card. Naturally, I go to get it, but when I reach out for it… an arm shoots out of the water, grabs me, and begins to PULL ME INTO THE LAKE! AAAAAHHHHHHHH! HELP ME, NOT THE WATER, NOT THE WATER!" Apparently Syrus had gotten too much into his story.

"Water's not so scary," Jaden said.

"Even dirty swamp water?" Syrus sighed, "You're right, only a chump would be afraid of a story like that," he said unaware that Chumley had taken a position in the far corner of the room.

"Still, good story," Jaden said picking up a four star monster called Earthbound Spirit. "Mid–level scares for a mid–level card." Apparently, the rules were you had to tell a scary story depending on the level of the monster was. He then drew a card from the deck. "But me, I hope I can get a high number card…" But the card Jaden drew was Sinister Serpent, a weak one star monster. "Oh…"

"Lucky…" Davis said.

"Yeah you lucked out. You don't have to scare us at all with that low card." Chumley walked back to the table.

"Well, I think I have a story that might do the trick," Jaden said putting the card down. "Actually, it's more of a memory. Back when I was a little kid, I used to hear sounds, but I only hear them way late at night. I think I was dreaming, but then… I heard them… they sounded like voices, but not ones that I recognized. I would go into the playroom to investigate but when I did, there was nothing there at all… except my cards."

"And…?" Syrus urged.

"And that's the end of the story." Syrus and Chumley groaned.

"Hey, at least the story fit the level." Davis shrugged.

"That's true." Syrus agreed.

"But want to hear something strange?" Jaden asked. "Lately, I started hearing them again."

"HA–HA–HA–HA–HA! I want to get in on the fright fest!" a voice said from behind Jaden.

"GYAH!" Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley, suddenly got scared with latter being in the corner of the wall, with the former jumping from where the sound came from. It was only Professor Banner and Pharaoh though.

"I think you just did," Davis stated.

"Yeah, we're kind of on the edge of our seats here," Jaden added.

"Or at least we were," Syrus added. Chumley was still back to the corner again, cowering. Everyone relaxed again. "But since you're here, why don't you draw a card. The tougher it is, the scarier your story has to be."

"Well that sounds easy enough. Let's see." Banner drew a card. It was the Five Headed Dragon!

"Level 12?!" Davis gaped.

"I think I'm going to bed now," Syrus said immediately.

"HA–HA–HA–HA–HA! What is wrong? Don't you want to hear about the Abandoned Dorm at the end of the island?"

"Abandoned Dorm?" Everyone asked.

Banner pulled up a chair and sat down. "Yes. No one talks about it, but there was once a special dorm set at the edge of the forest. It was actually the Millennium House. It was shut down when several students mysteriously went missing."

"Where did they go?" Syrus gulped.

"Well that's the mystery of it," Banner replied. "But rumor was it had something to do with Shadow Games." Davis flinched a bit at this.

"The Shadow Games?" Syrus asked.

"Thanks, you can stop now," Chumley pleaded from behind another table.

"You see, children, Shadow Games are duels that are played with mystical objects called the Millennium Items. Duel Monsters itself started in Ancient Egypt. The form of dueling for the Egyptians was in the Shadow Games. And if you lost, you got sent to the Shadow Realm, a mystical place that feeds on the darkness and fear of those who enter it. According to legend, Shadow Duels were very lethal and some even led to deaths."

"Come on," Jaden said dismissively. "Millennium Items, Shadow Games, this stuff can't possibly be true."

"No, it's true…" Davis said making everyone look at him. "The Shadow Games are _very_ real…"

"Oh c'mon, they can't be." Jaden waved off. "You sound like you've experienced the Shadow Games yourself." Davis was silent for a bit until he spoke again.

"That's because I have…" Everyone but him gasped.

"Seriously?" Syrus asked in disbelief.

"Yeah… I don't know if any of you know this, but a few years back in Domino City before I even had my Avenger deck made, the Rare Hunters came back."

"Really?" Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley asked.

"They're gone now, but yeah, they were there. I'm sure you know that after Marik, leader of the original Rare Hunters was defeated by Yugi at the Battle City Finals, the Rare Hunters were disbanded. Well, a few years after the Battle City Finals, they came back as a crime organization. They called themselves the Neo Rare Hunters. They duel against random people for their rare cards. The Neo Rare Hunters had these wristbands on their wrists that somehow made a Shadow Game very possible…" He explained and then shuddered. "I… was one of their victims."

"What?!" The Slifer Reds exclaimed.

"It's true. Even though, the Shadow Game was possible, thankfully, it wasn't enough to send me to the Shadow Realm. I know this because I saw it happen to someone before it happened to me. I remember that person badly hurt because the Shadow Games make the damage real, but that person wasn't sent to the Shadow Realm. After the Neo Rare Hunter took that person's cards, one of them saw and targeted me. I ran until that one Neo Rare Hunter cornered me in an alleyway and well… beat the crap out of me. I'll never forget that day."

* * *

Flashback

_In an alleyway, a young Davis was lying on the ground front first with his cards scattered across the ground, banged up and hurt, next to a guy who was beaten before him, with a Neo Rare Hunter standing in triumph._

_"Just as I thought, you were no match for me." The Neo Rare Hunter grinned as he deactivated his duel disk. "And I'll be taking your cards as my trophy."_

_"Hold it right there!" A voice said. The Neo Rare Hunter looked to see two people, one of them with blonde, and another with a familiar spiky hair of blonde, black, and red. It was none other than Yugi Moto and Joey Wheeler!_

_"Y–Yugi Moto and J–Joey Wheeler!?" The Neo Rare Hunter said in fright._

_"This has gone far enough!" Yugi said in angry tone. "You've crossed the line this time!" Yugi said as he activated his duel disk. "Joey?"_

_"Got it. I'll take care of the kid; you just go kick that Rare Hunter's butt Yug." Joey said as he went to Kurogasa's side as he flipped over so that he's lying on his back and lifted him up. "Hey kid, wake up. You alright?" Yugi asked. Kurogasa was coming to as he slowly opened his eyes._

_"J–Joey Wheeler?" Davis got out in a raspy voice, confused._

_"The one and only. Take it easy kid. Yugi will take care of things here." Joey said. Davis slowly turned his head and his eyes slightly widened when he saw the King of Games himself in front._

_"Yugi Moto?" Davis got out surprised._

_"You did well." Yugi said looking over his shoulder at Davis. "Everything's going to be alright. Just leave the rest to me."_

End Flashback

* * *

"You know the King of Games!?" Jaden exclaimed.

"Not _that_ personally… but yeah." Davis shrugged. "After Yugi beat the crap out of the Neo Rare Hunter, Yugi and Joey got me some help. Ever since that day, every now and then, I'd visit the Game Shop and hang out with Yugi and his friends and tell me stories about their adventures."

"Wow…" Jaden said.

Pharaoh yawned. "Well, I'm glad what happened then is all over now. And with Pharaoh sleepy, I think that's my cue to get back to my room, good night, Children." Banner left out the door.

"Good night, Professor," Jaden, Davis, and Syrus said.

"You know, I did see a scary looking building one time in the forest." Syrus said.

"Sweet," Jaden said. "Then you're going to lead us tomorrow night."

"What do you mean tomorrow night?!" Syrus exclaimed.

"What do you mean us?" Chumley threw in.

"It'll be fun," Jaden said. "We might even find out what happened to all those missing people."

"Jaden, you're not serious?!" Davis asked a bit annoyed.

"Oh relax Davis." Jaden waved off. "If it makes you feel better, we'll be careful when we go there."

"Good luck." Davis said.

Unknown to them, Dr. Crowler heard the entire thing from outside. "This is just the opportunity I've been waiting for," he said excitedly to himself. "I think it's time the Shadow Games make a comeback, Millennium Items and all." He walked away thinking of just the person to enlist…

* * *

Back in Domino city, the night had fallen and the mist was thick. In a back alley, a man who looked like a punk with a Duel Disc on his wrist was collapsed on the ground with his cards surrounding him. Several feet of the man, was the same trenchcoat man who was stalking Davis before suffering from his gas. He had on a modified Duel Disk/vest on.

"Pathetic fool," the man snorted. "Like you had any chance against the power of the Shadow Realm."

As he was prepared to leave, a phone rang. Reaching into his jacket, the man pulled out his phone and activated it, "Speak…Duel Academy tomorrow night? I was just planning on making a visit. I'll be there." He then smirked. "I might actually be able to find what I'm looking for there. Soon...I'll deal with you, Eitoku."

* * *

The next day during class, Jaden and Syrus slept the day away as Banner was giving the lecture with Crowler peeking in to the classroom. _'This will be the last time you sleep in on class, Slifer Slacker!'_ Crowler thought. _'But you'll have your _real_ lesson_… _on the Shadow Games!'_

* * *

Later that night, as it was only about 9:00 at night and the moon was full, Crowler stood alone on the docks next to the lighthouse, waiting. After a while, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw a person in black standing a few feet away from him. It was a tall man in a black trench coat and a wide brimmed hat, Crowler looked back to the man, "So you're the one they called the Shadow Duelist?" he asked.

The tall man smirked, "My opponent's call me many things, but most of them are hard to discern through their shrieks of horror. What's the job?" he asked as a fog appeared around them.

Crowler smiled as he informed him of the work, "I want you to frighten someone so intensely, he'll leave this island and never come back!" He then provided a picture of Jaden to the man. "Are you up to the challenge?"

"Of course I am!" The shadow duelist replied. "I never turn my back on a challenge, neither does my associate…" At that point, another man came out. It was the same man.

"I am Narutaki. Now a question for you."

"Ask away." Crowler said.

"Is there or is there not a student here in Duel Academy that has a deck full of Avenger cards?"

"There is. Davis Eitoku of Ra Yellow. Why?"

"I'm a bit of collector." Narutaki said. "Instead of money, I'll take a duel with this boy. With the ante rule of course."

"Who am I to care what happens to a Ra Yellow student?" Crowler laughed. "Do what you wish."

"Very well." Titan said. "And we'll make sure those boys face the terror of the Shadow Realm!" The fog disappeared, taking the hired men with them. Crowler left satisfied.

* * *

Davis sat at his desk studying, or at least attempting to. His brain couldn't help but think back onto the story Professor Banner told him and the others. While it did bring back bad and good memories, it also made him uneasy. He didn't want to be reminded of the Shadow Games. He just hoped that the rumors were false and that the Abandoned Dorm was simply… abandoned, and that Jaden and the others won't go disappearing like his mom did. The Avenger Spirits saw the discomfort on his face as everyone appeared behind him, worried about their friend.

_"Davis looks worried…"_ Luffy spoke the obvious truth as he watched Kurogasa turn the page on a Duelist Handbook about Spell Cards.

_"Can't blame him really. The Shadow Games_ are _a touchy subject,"_ Spider-Girl spoke.

_"But why mention it to begin with?"_ Reptil asked. This question caused the other Avengers to look at him in confusion.

_"Because it was part of the scary story about the dorm?"_ Bart asked.

_"Not only that,"_ Rikku stated. _", but that Banner person looked to me like he knew a lot more than what he let on…"_

_"Are you sure?"_ Felecia asked.

_"In case you've forgotten, we're here to help Davis with his studies here and look for his mother, not to find a good case and take on side jobs."_ Stinger said.

_"Unless those side jobs involve that Rachel girl!"_ Luffy butted in. Honestly, he's just saying this without even knowing what sex is.

_"Well… yes, but–"_

_"But, if these Shadow Games_ do _return we need to find out why and how we can get rid of it permanently."_ Shannon added.

_"If only there was some clue to go by."_ Ben 10 said.

Just then the loud ringing of Davis' Duel Pilot caught both the Avengers and Davis' attention. Davis picked up the device and flipped open the lid. "Unknown?" Davis whispered. He pressed the play button. Instead of a face, he got static for a screen, but a voice could still be heard.

_[Greetings, Davis Eitoku. I am Narutaki.]_ The voice introduced. _[You are probably wondering why you are receiving this message. To cut to the chase, I have information about your missing mother.]_ All the Avengers and Davis gasped. _[If you wish learn more, then meet me at the Abandoned Dorm tonight. Alone. I will be waiting.]_ The screen went black, showing that the message had ended.

_"Oh my…"_ Felecia said with concern in her voice.

_"Spider senses say this has 'Trap' written all over it!"_ Spidey exclaimed.

_"What do we do?"_ Rikku asked.

_"Isn't it obvious? We can't sit around and do nothing now that we got this message from this Narutaki."_ Bart said.

_"But it's as Spidey said. It could be a trap."_ Dream said.

_"We don't know that though."_ Ben countered.

_"Guess we'll know is if we answer Narutaki's invitation."_ Laura said.

_"It sounds dangerous."_ Maxine said calmly.

"Maybe," Davis said standing up and turning to them. "And it may be dangerous. But this could be the lead we need to find Mom and I'm not gonna waste this opportunity. We're going…"

_"Oh great…"_ Reptil groaned earning a nudge of the elbow from Spidey.

_"Just remember, we'll back you up on whatever you choose to do."_ Bart said. Davis nodded at this.

"Alright, then. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" Davis said determined. The spirits of the Avengers cheered in unison as they disappeared and Davis, with his deck and duel disk in tow went out. But before he could go to his destination, he had to get some help.

* * *

A few minutes later, Davis arrived at the Aboandoned Dorm along with Bastion and Rachel, with the latter two's Duel Pilot recording in case anything happens to Davis with Narutaki. "There it is. The Abandoned Dorm." Bastion said.

"Yeah…" Rachel said.

"Hey, thanks for coming along with me." Davis said as they head forward.

"Not a problem," Bastion replied. "Anything for a fellow Ra."

"And I just came because I don't want to see you-I mean, I was just bored." Rachel said.

As they got to where the 'Do Not Enter' sign was, fog started pooling through the trees. The fog was so thick that they would be able to cut it with a knife.

"Fog?" Rachel asked confused.

"That's impossible." Bastion said. "We're too far inland. Fog shouldn't reach this far." The sounds of footsteps could be heard "And someone is coming this way."

From out of the fog, comes Narutaki.

"You've arrived." Narutaki said with a dark chuckle but then grunted a tone of disappointment. "And I thought I told you to come alone."

"They're the least of your worries!" Davis growled. "Now start talking! Where's my mother?!"

"Hmph. I'll answer that with another question. Tell me, what Avengers do you have? Humor me."

"American Dream, Stinger, Spider-Girl, Rocket, Wild Thing, Reptil, Bartman OOO, Felecia, Rikku, Cyclone, Pikachu, and Monkey D. Luffy." Davis listed off. He didn't know this guy knew about the Avengers, but somehow he knew. "Not to mention the various forms for Ben 10 and OOO, and Stinger's Final Form as well."

"I see. Quite an impressive collection," the man nodded with a chuckle. "However, you're several Avengers short."

"That's impossible." Davis frowned. "My mother created the full set. I have the only one."

"Oh it's very possible," the man replied as he held up eight cards. "I have them right here," he then flipped the cards over. They were revealed to be a rocker vampire, a bulking man in armor, a man in a yellow mask, , a girl in some sort of white tiger outfit, a guy in some space armor with a black helmet to match, a blue and white jellyfish, a red armored being, a robotlike being, a turtle with holes on its chest, and a tall yellow being with jackhammerlike arms, the last five with the Omnitrix symbol on thier chests. Davis paled. "Marceline the Vampire Princess, J2, Power Fist, White Tiger, and Nova. And the Andromeda Alien forms of Ben 10 himself: Ampfibian, Water Hazard, NRG, Terraspin, and Armordrillo." Davis paled even more with Narutaki chuckling darkly. "Do I have your attention now?"

"It can't be!" Davis gasped. "They can't exist. She never finished her!"

"Finished what?" Rachel asked with confusion.

"Before my mom vanished, she was working on what were supposed to be the latest Avengers up to date." Davis explained. "I've seen sketches and notes, but there weren't any finished projects. Those cards are fakes!"

"Are they?" Narutaki asked rhetorically. "Take a closer look."

Davis dared to get closer so he could see the cards for himself. He knows his mom's work very well and would be able to tell when he was looking at a fake. He can tell that they weren't fake when he sees a small signature hidden in the background. That's how he can tell. He peered closely at the cards. In the background behind each of them, he saw tiny words written and hidden in the background.

Michelle Eitoku

Davis' eyes widened as he stepped back. Pulling out his deck, he took out his deck and looked at all of his Avenger cards. Each one had the same signature written into the artwork in part of the background. All of it was the same name.

"It… it's real," Davis whispered. "H–how? They weren't finished."

"Oh, I have my ways," Davis chuckled.

"TELL ME!" Davis demanded. "WHERE'S MY MOTHER YOU BASTARD?!"

"If you want your answers, then duel me for them," Narutaki stated. "I'll even hand over these cards if you win. But in return, you have to give me all your Avenger cards if I win."

"Deal," Davis frowned, earning stunned gasps from Bastion and Rachel.

"Have you gone mad?" Bastion asked with incredulity.

"I _have_ to do this guys." Davis stated. "Narutaki may know the whereabouts of my mother and I need to know now more than ever." Davis said as he got his deck back together in place, then inserting his deck into the duel disk and it went from standby to active. Narutaki took several steps away and pocketed the Avenger cards. He revealed his arm to show a duel disk on him to which he activated it. Both players drew their starting hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Narutaki:** 4000

**Davis**: 4000

"I shall start this duel." Narutaki said drawing his sixth card. "And it starts with Melchid, the Four–Face Beast in ATK mode!" A creature composed of only four masks appeared (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200). "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card." He concluded placing a reverse card on the field.

"My turn! Draw!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Reptil in ATK mode!" The dinosaur-themed hero appeared, with his Raptor Claws ready (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000). "Reptil, attack Melchid the Four–Face Beast!" Davis commanded.

_"Right!"_ Reptil said as he ran towards the four masked creature and readied his claws to strike.

"Pathetic! Activate the Trap, Mask of Weakness!" Narutaki countered revealing the trap card. "This decreases one monster's ATK by 700 until the End Phase, which I will do that on Reptil!" A wooden African–like mask appeared and attached to Reptil's face making the latter stop his attack and tried to take off the mask to no avail.

Reptil (4/ATK: 1700–1000/DEF: 1000)

"No!" Davis gasped.

"Melchid the Four–Face Beast, counterattack!" Narutaki ordered. The four mask creature then rotated at a high speed colliding with Reptil destroying the latter into pixels.

**Narutaki:** 4000

**Davis:** 3500

"And now that you lost points, it's time for you to experience losing yourself!" Narutaki said as he pulled out… the Millennium Rod?!

"A Millennium Item?!" the Ra Yellows and Obelisk Blue gasped. The said item flashed, causing both of them to turn away from being blinded. Once it stopped, they uncovered their eyes.

"What was that about?" Davis wondered.

Rachel gasped, catching his attention. "Davis, your legs!"

The Avenger Duelist looked down and then noticed that his legs looked like they were erased as parts of them were still there. "What the–!" Davis said. Not only that, his body started to feel numb too. "What… did you do?!"

"I merely used the power of my Millennium Rod to make you lose part of yourself every time you lose points." Narutaki chuckled darkly. "Though I suppose, in this Shadow Game, life points seem very insignificant at this point."

"Shadow Game?!" Bastion and Rachel gasped.

"No…" Davis cringed. "Not again…"

"Yes…" Narutaki chuckled again. "And the only way to get out of it is if you win, of course, if you lose the duel, you lose your soul and be sent to the Shadow Realm for good!" He laughed. "Treasure the numbness you feel inside now, for it will not last as you make your way into the chasm and void where every waking moment is filled with misery and despair!"

"Well, I'm not going to let that happen! I play Monster Reborn to bring back Reptil!" Reptil returned to the field. "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." He said as a reverse appeared on his field.

_'Good move.'_ Bastion thought. _'That way he has his Monster and his facedown to protect him.'_

"My move." Narutaki said as he drew his next card. "I summon the Portrait's Secret in ATK mode." A portrait of a bald bearded old man appeared, but coming out of it was a fiend of some sort appeared (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200). "And now I'll sacrifice Melchid, the Four–Face Beast and the Portrait's Secret to special summon the Masked Beast Des Gardius!" Two of his monsters disappeared and what replaced them was a massive fiend with a bone/flesh like appearance with sharp claws and three heads one each with a blue face like masks towering over Reptil and the students (8/ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500).

"My word…" Bastion whispered bugging out at the sight of the creature.

"It's huge!" Rachel exclaimed.

"And now I'll have Des Gardius attack Reptil again!" Narutaki declared. The three headed–mask creature went for the hero with its massive claws.

"I activate the trap, Negate Attack!" Davis countered revealing the trap, now your attack is nullified and your Battle Phase ends immediately!"

"Hmph. You're only delaying the inevitable." Narutaki scoffed. "I end my turn."

"To _you_ maybe." Davis growled as he drew his next card. "I _will_ win this duel, and you _will_ tell me where you got those cards, _and_ where my mother is!"

"You'll have to beat me first!" Narutaki countered.

"I _will_! I summon Wild Thing!" The feral mutant appeared with her Adamantium claws out (4/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1400).

"Interesting, but it's not enough to defeat Des Gardius." Narutaki said.

"I know that. That's why I'll place these last two cards face down on the field." Davis finished placing the last two cards from his hand to the field.

"It's my turn now, and I draw." Narutaki said drawing his card.

"Davis better have a plan or he'll lose a chunk of his life points." Rachel said to herself with worry.

"Now Des Gardius attack Reptil!" Narutaki ordered. Des Gardius tried to attack again.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap, fastball!" Davis declared revealing his trap which depicted Wolverine being thrown by Colossus at an enemy. "When Wild Thing or another monster on my side is selected as an attack target, I select the latter on my side of the field. The attacked monster gains ATK equal to the selected monster's ATK until the End of the Battle Phase."

"What?!" Narutaki growled.

"Good show!" Bastion cheered.

"Go for it!" Rachel shouted.

"I select Wild Thing's to be given to Reptil's!" Davis said. Wild Thing glowed and transferred its power to Reptil.

Reptil (4/ATK: 1700–3800/DEF: 1000)

"Counterattack!" Davis declared.

_"Let's do this Laura!"_ Reptil said.

_"Hm."_ Laura said in agreement. She jumped into into Reptil's claws then Reptil threw her with all his strength into Des Gardius, her slashes destroyed it into pixels creating an explosion.

**Narutaki:** 3500

**Davis:** 3500

When the smoke cleared, they saw that Narutaki lost a part of his arm where he held his cards, a piece of his leg, and a piece of his stomach.

"He's disappearing too!" Bastion noticed.

"And they're tied!" Rachel added.

"No matter… I will still win this duel!" Narutaki said. "I have to thank you for destroying Des Gardius."

"Why's that?" Davis asked confused.

"Look." Narutaki said as the smoke cleared out more. On the ground, the three masks that Des Gardius had were left behind. "You see, when Des Gardius is destroyed, it leaves behind its three masks. And when that happens, they reform into the Mask of Remnants!" The three masks then formed into one mask that in appearance had one eye with a mouth of sharp teeth with flesh covering the other eye and horns sticking out. "It then attaches to one of your Monsters and I take control of it!" The mask then turned around and stuck on to Laura who tried to take it off to no avail and suddenly went over to Narutaki's side of the field.

"Give back Wild Thing!" Davis demanded.

"Never." Narutaki said. "And now since I have a Monster to attack with, I'll have Wild Thing attack Reptil!" Narutaki ordered. Laura did the same thing he did to Des Gardius and Reptil was destroyed into pixels.

**Narutaki:** 3500

**Davis:** 3100

"Now Narutaki's in the lead." Rachel stated.

"Time for you to lose more of your whole being!" Narutaki said as he held his Millennium Item and shined the light on him blinding the students and when the light faded, Davis noticed that he started to lose some of his stomach and his body was struggling to stay up on the ground as he now fell on one knee and panting. "Hahahaha! How does it feel Davis? To be consumed by the darkness?" He laughed.

"Shut up!" Davis snapped.

"You should give up and hand over your Avenger deck. If you do, I might spare you from being sent to the Shadow Realm." Narutaki offered.

"What makes you think I'll agree to that?" Davis asked as he struggled getting up. "I'll never give up!" Davis drew his lone card. "I play Card of Sanctity! This lets us both draw until we have six cards!" Both drew until they had six. _'Not good. My hand's too weak against Laura.'_ He then looked at his sixth card. _'Maybe this could help more.'_ "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more!" Davis drew two cards. Then his eyes widened at one card that's not an Avenger. _'This is…!'_

* * *

Flashback

"Who's the letter from?" _Bart asked._

"Don't know." _Davis answered as he now opened the note. _"It's from Pegasus."_ He said as he now read the letter._

Dear Davis,

I hope that this pack of cards and note came to you alright. Inside, are eleven brand new cards I made specifically for your deck. Use them well. And I hope that you find your mother soon.

Signed,

Maximillion Pegasus

"From Pegasus huh? That was nice of him." _Ben said._

"Yeah. Well, let's see what we got._" Davis said as he opened up the pack from its silver colored package prison and it revealed as Pegasus said in the letter, eleven brand new cards specifically made for his deck. Davis grinned at this. _"Hey, look at this; you got new forms to go in Ben! There's also a Spell Card to call your new form out, Bart, and the weapons for you and Pikachu are here too."

"Oh good."_ Bart said._

"Time for me to check out one of my new forms!" _Ben said as he activated the Omnitrix. After being engulfed in a bright light, in his place was soe sort of cyclopean alien with plugs on ieachof its antennae and fingertips. The symbol was on its chest._ "Aww, yeah! Feedback!" _Ben (as Feedback) cried out._

"And it looks I got a couple of Spell, and Traps to go with the deck too. Yep, these cards will definitely be good for the deck."_ Davis said and added them to his deck._

End Flashback

* * *

_'Alright then, I'm just gonna have to hold out on Narutaki's turn.'_ "I end my turn!" Davis declared.

"Is he serious?" Bastion gasped. "There's no other cards he can play?"

"It seems you have finally run out of options." Narutaki said as he drew his next card. "I activate the Ritual Spell, Curse of the Masked Beast!" Narutaki said as he played his spell and a demonic like cauldron with blue fire came out. "I tribute your Wild Thing and my Newdoria whose total levels add up to 8, so I can Ritual Summon The Masked Beast!" The two monsters in question went into the cauldron and a tower of blue fire erupted and when that happened, the cauldron broke into pieces to reveal a fiendish centaur with a red mask and many masks over its lower region and legs with a fiendish tail holding a scepter (8/ATK: 3200/DEF: 1800).

"Oh no!" The students gasped.

"That's right. And now, that you're wide open, I can wage a direct attack on your life points! Go Masked Beast, send him to the Shadow Realm!" The Masked Beast then raised his scepter and fired a huge beam.

"DAVIS!" Bastion and Rachel cried out.

"Activate Trap! Nutrient Z!" Davis declared revealing his trap card. "If I take 2000 or more points of Damage, I get a 4000 point boost before subtracting!" A vile of liquid appeared, Davis opened it and drank the contents before throwing it away. And then vomiting again like last time.

**Narutaki:** 3500

**Davis:** 7100

The beam Masked Beast made its hit knocking Davis down to the ground and rolling on the ground before stopping.

**Narutaki:** 3500

**Davis:** 3900

"Davis! Are you alright?!" Rachel asked with concern.

"Not for long!" Narutaki shouted as he pointed the Millennium Rod at the Avenger duelist. "His body is nearly gone!" The light from the item flashed onto Davis' body, and soon all it was left with his head, chest, hands, and feet. "You cannot hope to recover from the onslaught I have dealt!"

Davis tried to move, but he found himself stuck to the ground somehow. "I… can't… move…" He uttered as his vision got blurry. _'What's happening to me?'_ and then soon his eyes grew heavy and closed completely.

* * *

'Pika! Pika-pi!' _Pikachu said._

_Davis woke up to find an image of Pikachu._ 'Pikachu? I'm not imagining things am I?'

'Pika!' _Pikachu took Davis' head and made him look in front of him, causing pain to the guy._

'Ow, ow, ow!' _Davis said. But then he found a faint light coming from Pikachu's tail and it pushed back the shadows. Davis started to see the forest as clear as when he first came in._

'Pika?' _Pikachu asked._

'I see now!' _ Davis thought. _'It's all fake!_'_

* * *

Davis slowly got back up on his feet and said while opening his eyes looking at Narutaki. "I've got this Shadow Game scam figured out!"

"What? Shadow Game scam?" Bastion wondered.

_'What is going on? He should be feeling scared right now.'_ Narutaki thought.

"What do you mean by that?" Rachel asked.

"It means my soul's not going anywhere! And to prove it…" Davis said as he looked around and picked up a rock and threw it at the Millennium which cracked easily. Davis and Narutaki got their bodies back at that point.

"NO!" Orpheus yelled. "What have you done?!"

"Your body's back!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Never lost it." Davis said. "Just nothing but a bunch of smoke and mirrors to make me think I'm losing my soul. Narutaki is nothing but a big fake!"

Orpheus scoffed, "So what if everything's fake? At least I get paid well doing this job! And you forget you're up the creek without a paddle! No cards on your field while I have one of my own monsters! You can't win!"

"He's right," Bastion stated, "It would take no less than a miracle to win now!"

_'Then let's_ make that _miracle,'_ Davis thought, preparing to draw. "Draw!" He said, drew, and then looked at it.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"What?!" Narutaki roared.

"First I play the card I drew! Dark Hole!"

"NO!" Narutaki yelled in horror.

"That's right. Which means your Beast is now gone!" A black hole suddenly opened up from the ground and then sucked the Monster in, never to return. "Next I summon American Dream and play Monster Reborn to bring back Wild Thing!" Laura returned to the field as Shannon appeared (4/ATK: 1800/DEF:2100).

_"Thanks for bringing me back on your side, bub. I thought that mask would never get off of me."_ Laura thanked.

"You're welcome." He said before turning back to Narutaki. "Now I play the card that will defeat you! I play the Spell, Avengers Assemble!" Davis declared playing the card depicting the movie roster of the Avengers. "With this card, I draw until I get up to 4 Level 1-4 Monsters, then Special Summon them to the field!"

"WHAT?!" Narutaki yelled.

"Great Scott!" Bastion gasped.

"I special summon Spider-Girl, Pikachu, and Monkey D. Luffy!"

Once that was declared, American Dream shouted out the team's battle cry.

**"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"**

With that call, comes out Spidey (4/Atk:1650/DEF:1200), Pikachu (3/Atk:1100/DEF:700), and Monkey D. Luffy (4/Atk:1900/DEF:1700).

"NO!" Narutaki yelled. "This can't be happening!"

"Oh it's happening alright!" Davis said. "And now to finish you off! Avengers, attack him directly!"

Everyone did their respective attacks towards Narutaki. Dream slinged her shield, Pikachu sent off a Thunderbolt, Wild Thing slashed him in the gut, and Spidey and Luffy uppercutted him right in the jaw, making him fly and land on his back as his life points depleted.

**Narutaki:** 0

**Davis:** 3900

* * *

The duel disks deactivated and the holograms faded.

"Good show Davis!" Bastion cheered.

"You won!" Rachel exclaimed, hugging him briefly before giving him space.

"Thanks. You got all of that?"

"Yeah." Rachel replied.

"Good. But keep on recording. We might need additional evidence just in case." They nodded at this as Davis walked up to Narutaki who was slowly getting up. "I won. So now you have to hold up your end of the deal. Give me the other Avengers and tell me where you got them."

"Hmph!" Narutaki growled as he got his standing. "I got them from a previous job. They were given to me as payment. I have been told that there were more out there. That's why I came hunting after you. And I'm not telling who hired me. I couldn't even if I wanted to. The client who gave me them hid behind a mask and voice synthesizer."

"Just hand over the cards," Davis frowned.

"Fine." Narutaki grumbled as he brought out the two cards and Davis swiped them away from him. He looked at them and he knew that it was real. It was proof that his mother was still alive. "As you mother's whereabouts, to be honest, I don't know where she is." Davis growled at this as he grabbed him by the collar.

"You dick! You said you had information about her!" Davis snapped.

"I only said that to bait you here, so I can get your cards." Narutaki scoffed as he took Davis' hands off of himself. "You may have won this day, but next time, I will come for you again, and take the Avenger cards and add them to my collection. We'll meet again." The fog seemed to swirl around Davis before he vanished again. The fog around them then disappeared and the students were able to see things clearly again and Rachel and Bastion pressed the stop button on their Duel Pilots.

"Well, that was an eventful night…" Bastion sighed.

"Let's get back home before… huh?" Rachel then noticed Davis kneel on both his knees. They circled around to face Davis and saw the latter's face, who was looking at the cards he got and struggling not to cry. "Davis? Are you alright?"

"I was so close…to finding my mom," Davis answered. "But now, I've got more questions than answers." They looked at him sadly. The search had been all for naught for the most part. Bastion and Rachel then took time to help him up and slowly walk him back to the dorm.

* * *

The next day, Davis stayed in his room sitting on the floor with his back on the wall with his legs up against his torso. He didn't even bother to go to class today. He just didn't want to deal with anyone right now. He looked at the other Avenger cards in his hand. The Avengers were finally complete and together now that Marceline, J2 (Zane Yama), Power Fist (Carl Rand), White Tiger (Ava Ayala), and Nova (Sam Alexander) were there. Sure, Davis was a little happy at that, but having such a small lead about his mom fizzle into nothing was heartbreaking. He was so close to finding his her. Now it only left a deep hole in his heart.

_"__This is messed up!"_ Reptil shouted angrily.

_"I know right! This sucks!"_ Bart agreed.

_"I think we can all agree to that, guys."_ Laura sighed as she and the other Avengers watched Davis stew in depression.

_"And just when we thought we can rebuild our family…"_ Felecia sighed as well.

_"We're back to where we started."_ Luffy finished.

_"We're sorry to cause you all this trouble."_ Carl apologized.

_"It's alright. It's not your fault."_ Maxine waved off.

_"Still, Davis shouldn't be like this."_ Rikku said shaking her head sadly. _"It's been like this for the past three years. Coming up empty when we get a false lead about his mother."_

_"Not entirely true, now that we're with you."_ Sam said.

_"That_ is _true…"_ Spidey agreed.

_"If you ask me, I'd say this is the best lead we've got in three years."_ Cassie said.

_"Pikachu."_ Pikachu added.

_"But even though we now know that his mother is alive because she created the others, the fact remains that we still don't know where she is."_ Shannon pointed out.

_"These past three years _have_ been taking its toll."_ Laura added.

_"Is there_ nothing _we can do?"_ J2 asked.

_"Probably not."_ Marceline said.

_"Unless it's another duel to probably give him a legitimate lead to his mother,"_ Rocket commented.

_"Who knows when_ that _will happen?"_ Bart said. _"I hate to say this, but it could be_ years, _before we actually find a legitimate lead."_

_"Maybe,"_ Spidey pondered as she looked to the door. She could sense someone coming. _"But… I think help's coming."_ The Avenger spirits faded away as a soft knock came to Davis' door. He didn't bother getting up, but the door opened anyway. Quietly slipping inside, was Rachel. She looked concerned when she saw him. She walked over to him and knelt next to him. Rachel looked up to see her.

"Hey Rachel…" Davis tried to smile, but failed.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked softly.

"I'd be lying to ya if I said yes…"

"So those are the cards you got from that Narutaki guy?" Rachel asked noticing them in his hand.

"Yeah." Davis said giving them to Rachel to look at.

"Your mom's a very good artist." Rachel said as she looked at the cards before giving it back to Davis.

"She is." Davis said as he placed the cards besides him. "She had a major in Art, and that's what got her to work for Pegasus as a card designer. Pegasus loved the idea of having the Avengers so he gave my mom a budget and a team and the set was created. My mom would've gotten a huge promotion if it worked."

"But then, as you said, she disappeared before she could even present the deck to Pegasus." Rachel finished.

"Yeah…"

"At least you now know that your mother's still alive somewhere."

"I know, but even so… I still can't find her. It's been like this for the past three years." Tears streamed down his face as he closed his eyes and he started to choke up a bit. "I was so close last night on finding mom… but now…"

He then felt arms wrapped around him. He opened his eyes when he felt that Rachel brought his head to her chest, hugging him closely. " It's okay… It'll be alright…" She whispered soothingly to him. Davis said nothing, as he continued to cry softly. He continued to cry for a long time, but Rachel still held him close, while she slowly and gently stroked his hair with her hand, doing her best to calm him down. Eventually, Davis' tears stopped, his breathing was steady, and he was able to control himself.

"Thanks…" Davis breathed out, wiping his tears while Rachel still held him close. "I'm not really like this, but…"

"It's alright. You've been through a lot. You have every right to be like this." Rachel said softly. "Don't worry, I'll help you out." Davis' eyes widen. "I'll help you find your mom." Rachel stood up from the ground, and offered her hand to Davis. "Ok?" Davis looked at her for a while, but then smiled a bit as he took her hand.

"Ok."


	6. Chapter 6: Day of Judgement

Chapter 6: Day of Judgement

Rachel and Davis hung out the entire night with Rachel spending the night in the latter's bed. The Ra Yellow boy took the floor under an extra blanket. By the time the sun had begun to rise, both students were awake.

"That was a nice sleep," Rachel yawned. She looked to Davis who was getting off of the floor. "Not too hard was it?"

"Nah" Davis stretched. "I slept okay. Looks like the sun's coming up though."

"Yeah, I had better get going," Rachel sighed. "You feeling okay now?"

"Much," Davis nodded. "I really appreciate you coming around. Thanks."

"No problem," Rachel smiled as she began collecting her things. She even took time to check her hair as they cleaned up a little. Both got to the door as Davis saw her out. "If you need to talk, just call me. I left my number on your PDA."

"Gee, thanks," Davis grinned with a flush.

"Well, see ya," Rachel waved with a wink as she left.

Outside, Rachel stretched with another yawn. This was definitely the farthest she got with a guy since she actually started liking guys, especially Davis. She had gotten pretty close to him in the weeks since Duel Academy started and she was getting very interested. She could at least admit to herself that she was crushing on the boy. Not that she would say it out loud to her friends yet.

As Rachel was walking away from the dorm, unknowingly being noticed by the few Ras that were up already, she saw several people in dark green uniforms marching towards the dorm. She recognized them as the Disciplinary Action Squad.

"What do they want with the Ra Dorms?" she asked herself, worrying about Davis.

* * *

Up in his room, Davis had managed to get his regular uniform on and was zipping it up over a white shirt with an Omnitrix insignia on it when a sharp knocking came to the door. Yawning again, he went to answer it, only to see the numerous people in green uniforms standing when he opened his door. "Uh…can I help you?"

"We are the Disciplinary Action Squad," the man at the front answered. "As of now we are taking you under campus arrest!"

"Huh?!" Davis squawked. "Under what charge?!"

"If you come with us, you'll get a full briefing of the situation as well as your interrogation," the man answered.

"Okay," Davis gulped. "Well, show me the way then."

With two guards to escort him, Davis was loaded onto a nearby truck and was shipped off to the Duel Academy building. As he got there, he noticed another truck nearby. Amazingly, he saw Syrus and Jaden being shipped out just like he was.

"Jay, Sy," Davis called. "What's going on?"

"We don't know," said Syrus, panicking. "When we woke up these guys just stormed into our room."

"Well, we'll find out soon when we see the Chancellor," said Jaden, calmly. Davis wondered how Jaden could be so calm about this.

* * *

"Davis is what!?" Alexis responded in shock after hearing the news from Rachel and Bastion.

"That's right," confirmed Bastion, "The DAS have Davis in custody."

"What are they going to do to him?" Rachel asked. She didn't want Davis to be expelled.

"Come on," said Alexis. "We're going to get this mess cleared up."

* * *

"SUSPENDED?!" the three boys cried.

All three boys were shuffled into a large room with viewing screens depicting the major players in Duel Academy. Namely the Chancellor, Crowler, the head of the DAS, and other teachers.

"That's my suggestion," the head of the DAS, a stern lady, nodded. "All three of you trespassed on the abandoned dorm and must be punished for your actions."

"And who told you this?" Davis asked with a frown.

"An anonymous letter sent to us by a faculty member," the leader replied.

"And how would a faculty member know that anyone was out there?" Davis asked. "If that member knew, I hardly think they weren't in a position to stop anyone. Why didn't they stop anyone?"

"That's not the point!" the DAS squad leader snapped.

"That is the point!" Davis growled. "Ever since day one here, someone has been actively trying to humiliate or even expel Jaden and has since gotten me and Syrus involved in it!"

The teachers gasped and Crowler began to sweat. Sheppard frowned as he heard the accusation, "Do you have any evidence of that?"

"Only circumstance in a few cases, hard proof in others sir," Davis answered respectfully.

"Let's hear it then," Sheppard nodded.

"Chancellor, you can't seriously-" Crowler tried to object.

"This isn't a dictatorship Dr. Crowler," Sheppard frowned. "These boys have a right to explain their circumstances. Now Mr. Eitoku, let's hear it."

Before Kotaro could open his mouth to speak, the door swung open. Alexis, Rachel, and Bastion burst into the room, shocking everyone inside.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Crowler demanded.

"That is what we want to know," said Alexis. "Why are these boys being punished when me and their friend Chumley were at the dorm too?"

"Wait, there were more of you there?" the chief of the DAS frowned. "Why wasn't this mentioned in the letter?"

"Selective memory is my best guess," Davis frowned.

"Or maybe they didn't know Alexis and this Chumley person were there," Crowler argued. "Now, if Chumley was there, why isn't he here then?"

"You guys run too fast,"

In came the heavyset Chumley, panting loudly, "I…was…there…too!"

"That answers your question," Sheppard nodded. "Now, Mr. Eitoku, about that evidence you said you had about a conspiracy for expelling Jaden and his friends?"

"Yes sir," Davis nodded. "Well, during the first days of school. A love letter was given to Syrus supposedly written by Alexis Rhodes. Being suspicious, Syrus and I confronted her about it. It turns out it was a forgery asking for Jaden to come to the Girls' Dorm at night."

"A love letter for me?" Jaden asked with a raised eyebrow.

"But that's grounds for immediate expulsion!" The head of the D.A.S snapped.

"Let him finish." Sheppard said the head of the D.A.S. "Continue Mr. Eitoku."

Davis nodded. "Now here's the kicker. Syrus and I decided to spring the trap for whoever wanted to expel Jaden. We went there at night and when we did, I notice that the lock to the back of the Girls Dorm' was already broken, most likely by bolt cutters. And then when we got caught by the girls and confronted Alexis about the letter, she told Syrus and I that it wasn't her handwriting, her name was spelled wrong, and it was addressed to Jaden Yuki."

"Hmm… sounds like something more serious than a prank," Sheppard frowned.

"Next came the promotion duels," Davis continued. "I'm not sure if many of you know this, but all the rare cards that were shipped to Duel Academy were all bought up by one person. However, since the store opened just as the test ended, no student could have gotten them before everyone else unless they skipped the test. After that, someone gave all of these rare and powerful cards to Chazz just before he was to duel Jaden."

"That sounds suspicious," the head of the DAS frowned.

"Finally, did any of you bother to ask us why we were supposedly at the abandoned dorm?" asked Davis.

"Well…no," the head of the DAS replied. "We just received notice that you three were there."

"Who cares what your reasons are!" Crowler yelled. "The fact remains that you broke the rules and you should be punished accordingly!"

"I HAD A DAMN GOOD REASON WHY I WAS AT THE ABANDONED DORM!" Davis yelled at Crowler.

"Oh really… this oughta be good…" Crowler rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Crowler…" Chancellor Sheppard said sternly before turning his eyes back to Kurogasa. "Now Mr. Eitoku, why were you at the Abandoned Dorm?"

"I…" Davis said now calming down. "I got a message on my Duel Pilot… from a person named Narutaki… he claimed he had information about my mother who disappeared three years ago…" Davis said with his voice trembling. Everyone present gasped at this.

"Your mother?" Sheppard asked.

"Yes. She was a card designer for Industrial Illusions. She was the one who created my Avenger deck. The day before she was to present the deck to Pegasus… she vanished. Narutaki claimed to have information about her. I still have the message here on my Duel Pilot." He said as he pulled it out of his pocket and played out the message.

_[Greetings, Davis Eitoku. I am Narutaki. You are probably wondering why you are receiving this message. To cut to the chase, I have information about your missing mother. If you wish learn more, then meet me at the Abandoned Dorm tonight. Alone. I will be waiting.]_

"And _did_ you go?" Sheppard asked.

"I _had_ to. I brought Bastion and Rachel along with me in case, something like this interrogation we're having now happens. They have the evidence recorded on their Duel Pilot. We were at the entrance of the Abandoned Dorm and Narutaki was there. He somehow got a hold of several cards I thought were just sketches and notes. Marceline the Vampire Princess, J2, Power Fist, White Tiger, and Nova, along with five other forms of Ben 10. I thought they were fake at first. But after looking at it, I knew they were real. I know my mother's work by seeing her signature hidden in the background. Narutaki and I dueled and I won getting the ten cards, but in the end he didn't tell me anything about my where my mother is. He only said that to bait me so he could to get my Avenger cards for his collection. But the other Avengers being made, proved that my mother is still alive out there somewhere."

"I see…" Sheppard said.

"I'm sorry Chancellor, it's just… I couldn't say no to something like that… I just couldn't…" Davis turned his head away, eyes closed, and clenching his fist while his body trembled.

"Calm down Mr. Eitoku," Sheppard frowned in sympathy. "Take a moment to take a breath."

"I don't like the sounds of this," the head of the D.A.S. frowned. "From the evidence alone it seems that somebody is working very hard to get Jaden expelled and isn't very picky about who gets caught in the crossfire."

"Obviously some schoolchild's idea of a prank," Crowler commented with a huff.

"It doesn't paint a good picture," Sheppard agreed. Sighing, he looked to Jaden and Syrus. "Mr. Yuki. Mr. Truesdale, since Mr. Eitoku has explained himself, how about you two? Why were you two at the dorm?"

"Well… at first, Syrus, Chumley, and I just went to check it out," Jaden said. "But then… we heard someone scream. We went down below the dorm in this cave, and we saw this guy in a trench coat with a hat and a silver mask and he had Alexis with him as his hostage." Everyone but Crowler who was sweating nervously, gasped.

"Miss Rhodes? What was she doing there?" Sheppard asked.

"Well, she told us that her brother was one of the people that went missing in the Abandoned Dorm, so she goes there praying there every night." Syrus said.

"And then… that silver masked guy then somehow kidnapped Alexis and we had to go save her from him." Jaden said.

"Preposterous!" Crowler snapped. "Miss Rhodes is one of my finest students! No way would she risk the rules to just put a rose down someplace!" The head of the D.A.S. snapped a glare at Crowler and even Sheppard sent a stern look at the man, but it seemed that Crowler's arrogance and/or vanity made sure he didn't notice their looks.

_'I'd like to see you say that if_ you're _missing a relative,'_ Davis thought venomously to himself.

"It's true!" Syrus insisted. "Jaden had to duel him and everything!"

"A duel?" Sheppard blinked. "You dueled him there?"

"I won too!" Jaden grinned. "I gotta tell you, he had some awesome tricks to make me think it was a real Shadow Game. He even made the room look like it was begin swallowed in darkness and little blob monsters were attacking us!"

"I… see," Sheppard blinked, looking alarmed about something. "In any case our databases could track down if such a duel happened, although we'd need details about how the duel went from you Jaden."

"Sure! I'll give you a blow by blow!" the Slifer grinned.

And so, Jaden took the time to tell the people every card they drew, every move they made, the stats in terms in life points, the monsters they summoned, the spell and traps they set and/or activated. Every nook and cranny of the duel he could remember. He even recalled some of the poses he made and how grim and spooky Titan was just for dramatic effect. Crowler was gritting his teeth by the end of it, not liking to hear how his duel assassin was beaten by a boy who by all means should have been one of the worst students in the school just like all of the other Slifers.

"Well… that's… good acting," Sheppard chuckled as Jaden wrapped up his commentary. "Makes me sad I missed it. That should be enough data for us to sift through any duels made in the last twenty–four to forty–eight hours. In the meantime, you three are on probation until we conclude our investigation so try not to get in any more trouble will you?"

"I have my eye on all of you," the head of the D.A.S agreed.

"Hmph!" Crowler snorted.

"And Davis…" Sheppard said with the duelist in question looking up. "I will make some phone calls to some of my personal contacts to help you search for your mother."

"You will?" Davis gasped a bit.

"Of course. You have my word that I will do everything in my power until she is found."

"…Thank you…" Davis nodded with a small grateful smile.

The three screens then winked out.

* * *

After being dismissed, Davis had gone off to do some thinking. "I'm glad I got out of that one," Kurogasa muttered. "If I didn't have evidence Jaden, Sy, and I would have been in some deep (bleep)."

_"Although that little incident, although bad, has brought in some good things for us as well." _Shannon stated.

"Such as?"

_"We now have more help finding your mother. Chancellor Sheppard seems like a nice man,"_ Maxine said as she appeared. _"With this we'll be able to speed up our search."_

"Hopefully they'll come up with something that we haven't seen yet," Davis sighed.

As they started making their way towards the dorms, Davis remembered something. "Zane, Ava, Carl. Do you mind if we speak?"

_"Not at all,"_ Power Fist said as he and the other three appeared.

_"What do you want to talk about?" _Ava asked.

"I wanted to know what was the last thing you saw before you were given to Narutaki? Do you remember anything?" They looked up into the sky and was silent for a few moments. When they looked back at Davis, J2 nodded his head slowly. _"I remember seeing your mother for a few moments. She was running away from some people."_

_"She had to hurry and escape from whoever was chasing her, and in her haste dropped us." _Ava added.

_"After that it was all dark until you gained us."_ Power Fist then bowed to Davis. _"That is all__."_

"It's fine." Davis sighed. "Do you guys have any clue as to when and where this was?"

_"I think this happened about, two years ago. I can remember seeing some snowy mountains in the background, and that people did not speak our language. As she was working on us she was always moving. Always trying to get away from some people. Although, I remember that when she went to sleep, she'd be calling out your name while she had nightmares. I think she wants to come home but can't." _J2 replied.

"Mom…" Davis murmured with his head down. But then he held his head back up. "I see. That's more than enough. The news may be old, but we have some confirmation that mom's still alive," Davis said. "I think I need some air to think."

As he was outside to think, unknown to him, Rachel was close behind. She found him sitting at a tree while flipping through his cards.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Rachel asked, startling Davis.

"Oh, Rach, didn't see you there," said Davis. She sat down next to him. "What's wrong?"

"This stinks."

"I hear ya. But you know what they say: its duel or die."

"But not after something like this," Rachel sighed. "It isn't fair!"

"Not much can be done about it," Davis shrugged. "We can't prove our case without a doubt and there's no way to interrogate whoever ratted us all out."

"Yeah," Rachel nodded. "So who do you think is going to duel you?"

"Can't be sure," Davis shrugged. "I doubt its going to be just anyone though. If my luck stays bad though, I might end up dueling against someone like Zane or something."

"Now that would be completely unfair!" Rachel cried. "You should at least have a chance of winning!"

"Yes, that's why I'm here," said Davis."My mom, sometimes I saw her sketching under a tree. She told me it helped her think when she communed with nature. Right now I'm communing with nature and my cards, trying to think straight about my place right here in the academy."

"Your place here?" Rachel asked as she took a seat next to him. "I think that's obvious. You belong here! You earned it!"

"Yeah, and I really don't want to leave," Davis sighed as he continued to flip through his cards. "I trust in my cards and how much we've been through. Even with new additions, I know they work."

_"Yeah!"_ several phantom voices called out at once. Rachel blinked and looked around.

"Did you hear something?" she asked in confusion. Davis blinked in surprise for a moment before he shook his head, answering Rachel's question. A lie, but there was no way he'd be able to prove each of his Avenger cards have a spirit within each them. It was too incredible and had to be seen to be believed.

"Well, if you have that much faith in your cards then you'll definitely win," Rachel smiled. "Still, I'll be rooting for you from the sidelines."

"I'll definitely be looking forward to it," Davis grinned. "Thanks, Rach."

As the two were standing up, Rachel suddenly tripped and fell backwards. On impulse, davis grabbed her arm but lost balance and ended up being pulled down…on top of her…with their lips touching.

"My my, you two work fast."

"ACK!" both teens cried, turning bright red as they leaped away from each other. Looking to who was talking, they saw a snickering Bastion with Alexis, Mindy, and Jasmine next to him.

"It wasn't what it looked like!" Davis cried out.

"Honest!" Rachel agreed with a rapid nod.

"You two are so in denial," Mindy giggled.

"Yeah...really _in denial,_" Jasmine agreed.

"I have to agree with them on this one," Alexis laughed. "It can't be any more obvious unless you both just came out and said it."

"Sort of like you and a certain Elemental Hero Slifer student?" Jasmine asked with a smirk.

"Huh?!" Alexis flushed. "Hey! There is nothing between me and Jaden except for friendship!"

"I'm sure," Jasmine snickered.

"So Jaden's managed to snag a heart has he?" Davis grinned. "I wonder what his reaction would be if someone let him know."

Alexis was suddenly in front of Davis and holding the lapels of his jacket. The look in her eyes was rather terrifying. "You tell him and you're dead!"

"Right. No telling. Got it and I'm not just saying cuz I wanna keep my nuts," Davis gulped.

Man girls were scary when they were mad.

Meanwhile, Crowler was pacing around his office like a tiger in a cage figuring out of what to do. _'That Slifer Slacker Jaden has made a fool out of me for the last time! And that Avenger Ra Reject Davis almost exposed me! It looks like I'll have to take things into my own hands…'_ He thought.

* * *

The duelists only had a few days to get ready for their matches. It wasn't much of a preparation period since they didn't know what they were in for. Jaden and Davis were ready fro whatever came, but Syrus couldn't be worse even if he tried. He was so unsure of himself that he missed a key opportunity to beat Jaden in a duel. Davis had heard from Alexis that Jaden had challenged Zane to a duel about the treatment of Syrus. Jaden lost, but he did make a good showing of himself.

Still, Davis was going over every inch of his deck to make sure he knew every strategy and attack that he was capable of. He couldn't afford to mess up this chance. He came to Duel Academy for a reason and he wasn't going to mess it up now. Not after everything that had happened so far. He had made too many friends to just be kicked out now.

"Okay," Davis sighed. "Here we go."

Picking up his duel disk and leaving his jacket open to reveal a crimson shirt with Stinger's design on the front. Picking up his Duel Disc and his deck, he set out for the common duel arena. He wished it was farther away, but he made it there in easy time.

"**Attention Students! This is an Expulsion Duel! If Davis Eitoku cannot obtain victory, he will be immediately expelled from Duel Academy. Attention…**"

Davis ignored the announcement and got onto the elevated stage. His opponent hadn't arrived yet. However, Crowler was standing in the centre and was going to act as referee.

"I'm glad you could make it Mr. Eitoku," he snickered. "We took special care to selecting an opponent for you. However, I wouldn't give much hope to actually defeating this one."

"Why?" Davis asked with curiosity.

"Because this duelist is a professional!" Crowler smirked before he raised a microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention. Duel Academy has gone the extra mile for this duel and obtained a top notch opponent for our friend. All of you who have kept up in all things Duel Monsters will recognize him! May I present, Mako Tsunami!"

"Mako Tsunami!?" Davis gaped. He'd watched the videos with Rachel so he knew about Mako Tsunami. He was one of the best duelists around. This was definitely a set up if there ever was one. Mako was a master at Water aligned and sea monsters. Aqua, Fish, and Sea Serpents. The only times that he was really defeated was by Yugi Motou and Joey Wheeler. He's never lost to anyone else.

Walking in from the entrance was the famous fish duelist himself. His hair was spiky and there was a scar on his chin. His skin was tanned darkly. He was wearing light clothes like a blue fishing vest and white shorts with sandals. On his wrist was his Duel Disc and his deck was already inserted.

"So," Mako spoke as he got onto the stage. "This is the delinquent that you brought me in to defeat?"

"This is the one," Crowler snickered, obviously expecting a beatdown. "Let's make a grand show out of it shall we?"

"Oh, it will be a grand water show," Mako grinned as he activated his Duel Disc. "You'll be like a fish out of water against me!"

"We'll see," Davis frowned as he activated his own Duel Disc. "Only two duelists have ever beaten you before and if I want to stay, I'll have to become number three."

"Indeed," Mako grinned. "Champions the both of them and I'm proud to have been beaten by them. However, let's see if you have what it takes."

"Oh, I'll show you that and more," Davis frowned.

Up in the stands, the students who had come to watch were in awe at what they were seeing. Everyone there knew who Mako Tsunami was and how powerful his cards were. Of course, not everyone was settling in for a regular match.

"Mako Tsunami?!" Rachel cried. "This is worse than making Zane face him! At least then he'd have a chance. Only two people have been able to beat Mako Tsunami!"

"And those two were the King of Games and Joey Wheeler," Bastion frowned. "Against such odds, I'd have to say that Davis' chances of winning are in the low percentile."

"Don't say that," Alexis frowned. "Remember, Davis has his Avengers. I doubt that Mako knows anything about them. It might prove to be a big help."

"Perhaps," Bastion nodded. "But Mako isn't a champion-class duelist for no reason. He'll recover quickly and start making strategies."

"I'm gonna enjoy this!" Chazz snickered.

"Yeah! That Ra Reject is definitely gonna pay for what he did to me!" Raizou smirked liking where this is going.

"DUEL!"

**Davis: 4000**

**Mako: 4000**

"As the one dealing punishment, I will go first," Mako announced as he drew his cards. "For my first move, I will discard my Warrior of Atlantis from my hand so that I may draw A Legendary Ocean from my deck!" After slipping a card into his graveyard, Mako drew a card from his deck. "And I will play it to bring my first step towards victory!"

Slapping the card into the Field Spell card slot, the holograms activated. Large ruins rose from behind Mako as the air turned into crystal clear water. Seaweed spurt from the now sandy ground as fish swam through randomly. Davis had to swat at a jellyfish that was getting kind of close. It still looked real instead of a hologram though. Kaibacorp tech at its finest.

"What this card does is lower the level of all Water monsters by one and it increases their attack and defense by 200 points," Mako explained. "I will be taking advantage of that effect by summoning the Great White Terrorin attack mode!"

A flash of light appeared before a large shark with dark blue skin and a white underside appeared on the field. It gnashed its teeth aggressively before resting(LV5/ATK:1500-1700/DEF:1200-1400). "I will then place one card face down and end my turn," Mako finished as he slipped a card into his Duel Disc.

"My move," Davis announced as he drew his card. Looking it over, he grimaced. '_He's probably feeling me out by playing that monster. What he has is either something for a later turn or something to stop me cold. He starts like a ripple then comes at me like a flash flood. Fits his style. I gotta be careful or else he's going clobber me._'

"I play Double Summon, which will allow me to summon two monsters this turn, so I bring out Monkey D. Luffy and Ben 10 in attack mode!" Davis announced as the straw-hat guy (LV4/ATK:1900/DEF:1700) and the Omnitrix-wielder (LV4/ATK:1600/DEF:1500) appeared in a flash. "Then I activate I activate Ben 10's special ability! By sending him back to my Deck, I can special summon an "Omnitrix" monster from my Hand or Deck! And it's a good thing I'm facing a Water duelist like you so I'll bring out Ripjaws! Now Ben!"

**_"It's Hero Time!" _**Ben shouted as he pressed the Omnitrix and once the transformation ended, an alien fishman with a big jaw and the Omnitrix symbol on his belt was in his place (LV4/ATK:2150/DEF:1400). _"Ripjaws? Good thinking, Davis!"_

"Thanks, Ben." Davis replied before turning to Mako. "And since he's a Water attribute monster he gains a 200 point boost to his attack and defense," As he said, Ripjaws changed his lower parts into a tail showing that he's in the house, or ruins (whatever!) (LV4/ATK:2150-2350/DEF:1400-1600).

"So you use my own card for your own purposes, I expected that," Mako smirked. "What will you do?"

"This. Luffy, attack with Gum Gum Pistol!" Davis ordered.

"Ok!" Luffy said, giving him a thumbs-up.

"I don't think so!" Mako announced. "Activate trap Tornado Wall!"

The trap card flipped up before a series of whirlpools surged around Mako's side of the field.

"This trap stays on the field as long as Umi is activated," Mako explained. "Since Legendary Ocean counts as Umi, it will work. What it does is turn all damage I may receive from an attacking monster to zero."

"Afraid to say this, but Luffy's unaffected by Traps!," Davis grinned.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Mako

**GUM GUM...**

As he charged forward, Luffy then stretched his arm as he started to punch.

**PISTOL!**

His fist collided with Mako's monster, destroying it into pixels.

"Ngh!" Mako grunted as he took a hit.

**Davis:4000**

**Mako:3800**

"Good move. It makes me wonder why you want to risk your education by breaking the rules here."Mako complimented.

'_Gotta get rid of that Trap or the Field Spell, still,_' thought Davis. ""I will play a card face down and end my turn." A card appeared on his side of the field.

"My draw," Mako nodded as he drew a card. He took a moment to examine his hand before he tried to think of a move. In a moment, he got one. "Since you're a stronger duelist than I first assumed, I will summon an appropriate monster. So I will call the Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!" A shadow passed over the field as a giant whale swam over the duel. It then lowered itself to be level with the duelists, revealing that it had all the workings of a naval base attached to its back(LV5/ATK: 2100-2300/DEF: 1200-1400) .

"Oh…crap," Davis gasped at the giant whale. It was plain to see just why Mako was such a powerful duelist. No one had cards like this last he knew.

"Now, open fire on the Straw Hat!" Mako ordered as the whale brought its guns to bear. A resounding boom echoed through the arena before the artillery shells blasted Luffy, destroying him into pixels.

"Yow!" Davis cried as his life points took a hit.

**Davis:3600**

**Mako:3800**

"That was lucky," Davis frowned. "This duel just went up a level."

"You have no idea," Mako snickered. "I shall end my turn."

"OK, my draw!" Davis proclaimed as he began his turn.

Rachel looked on in worry. Davis was a sitting duck now since Mako could get his high level monsters our more easily while Davis couldn't do any battle damage to Mako at all with that Tornado Wall trap out. However, when she saw how calm Davis looked, she had more faith in him. "Come on, Davis. Pull a miracle or something."

"First I activate Pot of Greed!" announced Davis. "I get to draw two extra cards."

Drawing the two of them, Kotaro peered at what he had gotten. After a moment of thinking and checking what Mako had again, he decided on a course of action before saying...

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"What?!" Mako shouted. Jaden and the others knew what that meant and the rest of the students and faculty were stunned at what he said.

"Yeah Davis! Show him whose boss!" Jaden shouted. "Finish this duel and send this guy packing!"

Davis nodded at this. "First, "I play Water Hazard in attack mode!"

Another flash of light came and this time a red armored shellfish humanoid appeared (LV5/ATK: 2350-2550/DEF: 1500-1700) . For some reason, this one has an Omnitrix on its chest, which leads to one question...how is it here when Ben as Ripjaws is here?!

"Whoa! Is that an Omnitrix monster?" Rachel wondered

"How could he have two out?" Alexis thought about this.

"I know I have two Omnitrix monsters out, but I only special summoned one of them, so any of the Omnitrix monsters can also be Normal Summoned." Davis explained. _"Although the monster I Normal Summoned is just a normal card now."_

_"Yeah. Especially when you activated my ability to turn into Ripjaws when I was human. I got to say, fighting alongside one of my alien forms is kinda creepy." _Ben admitted.

"A fine monster, and strong enough to face my fortress!" Mako commented from his side of the field.

"I know, and I'll also activate Avengers Assemble!" Davis announced as he played the spell card. "Aside from drawing some cards, if I draw up to four monsters that are up to level four, I get to Special Summon them." Davis did so and he couldn't believe what he drew. "Ben, assemble the team!" With Ben as Ripjaws out, there is one thing to do...

**AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!**

With that, out came Cyclone (LV4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1700) and two of the new Avengers: Marceline the Vampire Princess (LV4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 0)and White Tiger(LV4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 300)!

_"So this is what a Duel is like." _Marceline said.

_"Yeah. Ever since he got us, he's been good at dueling."_ Maxine explained.

_"Alright. Even though me and Marcy are new to this, we'll be ready to fight, Davis!" _Ava said.

"A lucky move!" Mako frowned. Movess like this reminded him of Yugi and Joey back during Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. The intensity in his eyes was even similar to theirs. It was starting to make Mako's duelist spirit burn. "I still have my Tornado Wall, so you can't do any damage."

"Let me finish," Davis said. "Let me show you Water Hazard's special ability! Once per turn, he can destroy all Spells and Traps on the Field! He'll also attack your Orca!"

With that said, the magic began. Water Hazard raised his arms and out of the holes in the palms of its hands, blasts of watar were sprayed out, destroying all of Mako's cards since he's the only one with Spells and Traps. He also destroyed the whale since it had lower ATK points.

**Davis:3600**

**Mako:3650**

"Agh!" Mako cried, shielding himself from the attack.

"That's not all," Davis explained. " Now you have to deal with the rest of my monsters."

"No!" Mako cried, but they attacked one by one, with wind, claws, and a swing by Marceline's Ax, making Mako's life points reach to zero.

**Davis:3600**

**Mako:0**

Crowler looked ready to pull out his hair at the outcome of the duel. Davis was never meant to win! But, alas, the Rebellious Ra Reject was able to pull through and achieve victory.

"Ah, a fine duel," Shappard smiled from his seat. "Showing unwavering courage in the face of adverse odds and the knowledge of how to use proper timing to claim victory. Quite the lesson learned, eh Crowler?"

"Y-yes sir," the Obelisk teacher grumbled. Oh well, forget the Ra Reject. He had bigger fish to fry. Chief among those fish was a pair of Slifer Slackers that had plagued him since they came to this school in the first place.

"GO, DAVIS!" Rachel shouted out, cheering. She was soon joined by many others.

Davis barely paid them any mind as he picked up his cards. "Thanks…"

"Hey, kid, not bad," said Mako. "You really showed me, huh?"

"Well, Mr. Tsunami, you were quite the challenge," admitted Davis.

"Call me Mako." Mako extended his hand in a friendly manner. Davis accepted the hand with a grin of his own.

"Then you can call me Davis," the Avenger duelist smiled.

"DAVIS!"

The Ra Yellow student turned to see who had called him, but what he got was his vision filled with Rachel who had trapped him in a hug. Of course, that was nothing when she started making out on his reddening face. "I thought I was going to have a heart attack! You couldn't have cut it any closer you know! Don't scare me like that!"

"Like I could help it?" Davis asked from Rachel's arms. He was tomato-faced by the affection and Rachel didn't seem to realize what she was doing. "Come on Rach. Calm down. I've won and we don't have to worry about me getting expelled."

"I was still scared!" Rachel huffed, still hugging Davis tightly. "So I say we head out and celebrate tonight!"

"But Jaden and Syrus still have to duel," Davis argued. "We can party after they get out of their mess!" Rachel smiled a small smile at that as she nodded and finally left with Davis looking on._'Definitely going after her.'_ He thought as she went out of sight. Two figures then appeared. One was Sam and the other was Rikku. They were both looking after her.

_"Do you need help wooing her?"_ Sam asked as if he read his thoughts.

"Ugh… not this again," Davis sighed.

_"Don't worry Davis. I have experience with women."_

_"Yeah, I'll help too,"_ Rikku smiled. _"You may need to follow our instructions."_

"Um… sure?" Davis replied uneasily.

_"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"_ Felecia shouted as she appeared. _"He is_ my _apprentice in love! Don't try to tell him what to do!"_

_"What are _you_ talking about, Felecia__?"_ Reptil said as he appeared. _"I'm no expert in something like this, but none of your moves _ever_ work!"_

_"They_ do _work!"_ Felecia shouted back. _"Did you see how many girls swooned for him back home?"_

_"If I have to put my input, Dream had more luck keeping a stable relationship,"_ Rocket stated as she appeared.

_"Is that true?"_ Sam asked the leader as she appeared. Shannon nodded.

_"Why not Bart? He had a girlfriend too,"_ Rikku suggested.

_"NO! We will not ask anyone else but me!"_ Felecia shouted.

"Ugh… I'm never going to hear the end of this…" Davis groaned.

Over to the sidelines, Mako, Bastion, and Alexis were watching the pair part ways.

"Looks like the young sailor found his mermaid already," Mako laughed.

"Too bad the only ones who don't see it is them," Alexis sighed.

"I'm just curious as to how he did it," Bastion commented. "The odds of them actually getting into a relationship considering their dorms and how they didn't know each other at first were against them."

"Well, that goes to show you that you can't predict the human heart," Alexis giggled softly. She watched as Rachel continued to hug Davis, relieved that he wouldn't be going anywhere. He would make a decent Obelisk. If only the teachers and Sheppard could see it. Well, after this they might.

* * *

The stage was quickly reset for Jaden and Syrus. Davis was worried about who their opponents would be. If this was a set up by an Obelisk, then Crowler was a prime suspect. If that was true, then the duelists that the Slifer Red students would face probably wouldn't be pansies. If anything, if Crowler was the culprit behind the expulsion schemes, then it would be so stacked against the pair it wouldn't be funny.

His instinct was right.

Crowler had brought in none other than the Paradox Brothers. Para and Dox were a pair of dueling mercenaries who had been hired as eliminators in the Duelist Kingdom tournament and only lost once in their careers and that one loss was to the King of Games himself. The pair were merciless and never let up on anyone. Unlike Mako who was a true sportsman and a fair duelist, the Paradox brothers weren't going to let up for anything.

Ever since turn one the brothers seemed to be in control. They were able to use each other's side of the field as if it were their own. Their teamwork was amazing and only in a matter of turns they had managed to not only get a big lead, but summon their signature monster the Gate Guardian. The domination only got worse and Jaden's Elemental Heroes and Syrus' Vehicroids were getting creamed. Jaden could hold his own, but Syrus was blundering under the pressure. If he didn't get his act together soon then the pair were going to lose and get expelled.

Then as if by divine inspiration, Syrus seemed to get some courage as he made his move. He had summoned a Drilloid to destroy the only other monster that the brothers had aside from the Gate Guardian that was forced into defense mode by Jaden's Elemental Hero Sparkman which was equipped with Spark Blaster. Then, Syrus had used the magic card Shield Crush to destroy the Gate Guardian in one fell swoop. As amazing and seemingly impossible as it was, the Paradox brothers were prepared for it. Using a magic card that Davis never heard of called Dark Element, the brothers summoned a huge monster called Dark Guardian (LV12/ATK: 3800EF: 3450).

At the moment, Jaden and Syrus had Elemental Hero Tempest (LV8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2800) and Drilloid (LV4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1600)on their side of the field. Para and Dox had their Dark Guardian still standing strong.

**Para&Dox**: **3400**

**Jaden&Syrus: 200**

"This doesn't look good for them," said Bastion. "They barely have any life points left."

"Don't be too sure, Bastion. Jaden has surprised us and so has Syrus in this duel," said Davis. "Just have some faith."

"But-"

"I know you base your duels on logic and math equations, Bastion, but sometimes good instincts and faith can win out in the end."

It was Syrus' turn as he drew his card. He knew that it was going to become all or nothing if he kept moping. He had to play his cards, not just use them if he wanted to win. Looking down at the Power Bond card, he then got an idea. "I'll sacrifice my Drilloid for my UFOroid!" Syrus announced as his machine vanished to be replaced by an alien cartoon machine with large eyes (LV6/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1200). "And next I'll play the magic card, Power Bond!" Syrus announced as he activated the magic. "And I have just the right monsters to use! Jaden, do you mind?"

"Hey, what's mine is yours," Jaden grinned.

"Good," Syrus nodded. "I'll fuse UFOroid and Tempest to create UFOroid Fighter!" A new monster appeared from the other two. It looked like Tempest standing on top of a UFO shaped platform with some guardrails on it. It wasn't much of a physical change, but it was a big change in itself (LV10/ATK: ?/DEF: ?). "And get this! His attack points are the total of the monsters used to make him!" Syrus smiled as an aura glowed around the monster (LV10/ATK: ?-4000/DEF: ?-4000).

"It matters not, so cease your prattle!" Para frowned.

"You know our Dark Guardian cannot be beaten in battle!" finished Dox.

"Yeah, I know," Syrus nodded. "But it doesn't matter. You see, Power Bond has an ability which lets me double my monster's attack points!" The fight was glowing with energy as its ATK increases (LV10/ATK: 4000-8000/DEF: 4000-8000).

"To make 8000?!" the brothers gasped in shock.

"Your Dark Guardian will survive, but your life points are another matter," Syrus grinned. "Roid Fighter! Attack with Cosmic Flux Blast!" The UFOroid Fighter aimed his weapon arm and fired a huge blast of energy. The stream collided with the gigantic Dark Guardian, but the blast just kept going. The blast collided with the Paradox Brothers, making them grunt in pain from the hit and drop their life points.

**Para&Dox**: **0**

**Jaden&Syrus: 200  
**

Davis smiled proudly as he watched his two Slifer friends win. His gaze then went to Crowler who looked like he was having a heart attack. He knew some Obelisks would be upset with Jaden and Syrus winning, but to have such a reaction was suspicious.

"_Davis…_" began J2 as he appeared by Davis' side.

"We don't have evidence, but we might have a suspect," said Davis.

"Did you say something Davis?" asked Bastion.

"Huh?" Davis blinked. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud to myself. Amazing finish to this duel. They overcame the Dark Guardian with brute force."

"Indeed," Bastion nodded. "It seems Jaden and Syrus are getting more interesting by the moment."

"I'm just glad that Jaden gets to stay," Alexis sighed with relief.

"Don't you mean Jaden AND Syrus?" Jasmine teased. Alexis flinched, realizing her slip of the tongue.

"Of course I mean Jaden and Syrus," Alexis blushed. "I just mean…we…I…uh, well,"

"I rest my case," Jasmine smirked.

Chazz kicked the back of the seat in front of him so hard that it bent. He then got up and stormed off with his boys following him.

"No, it can't be," Crowler said falling to the ground. "They won, they beat the legendary tag Duelists! How could they have won?!"

"Obviously it was because of your splendid teaching!" Banner said kneeling down with Pharaoh. "Oh wait, they're in my dorm." Pharaoh licked Crowler's face.

Crowler then started freaking out, "That fur ball just licked me! Does he have rabies!? Let me see his papers! CALL THE POUND!"

_"Oh relax, Crowler." _Davis thought as he watched Crowler freaking out._ "It could've had AIDS."_

"We did it, Sy, we won," Jaden said.

"Yeah, we… we…" Syrus sniffled, trying to hold back his tears. "We did it, we really won."


	7. Chapter 7: Bye Bye Chazzy!

Chapter 7: Bye Bye Chazzy!

With the completion of the expulsion duels, Davis could finally go back to trying to keep his grades up. All of the excitement going around made him feel like he was out of his concentration. As such, he was hitting the books when he could both inside and outside of class. However, as much as he tried to keep studying, his mind was still on the concept of who was trying to get Jaden expelled and almost took Syrus and himself with him. His first guess was Dr. Crowler since the man seemed to be especially enthusiastic about the expulsion duels and how Jaden had to duel Chazz in the promotion exams. He definitely had motive since Jaden had kicked his butt at the entrance exams. The funny thing was that Jaden never seemed to notice that anyone seemed to be holding a grudge to him. Still, Davis didn't like it when someone tried to do something mean to his friends.

Of course, another thing that was throwing Davis off was his dorm mates. Several of them had seen Rachel leave that morning when she came over for a visit. Everyone was assuming that the pair were in a relationship, which made Davis something of an idol figure. Since Rachel was friends with Alexis, several Ra boys were hoping for tips on how to woo the Obelisk girl or any Obelisk girl in general. Of course, Davis denied anything as serious as the Ra boys were hinting at. Sure, he was attracted to Rachel and respected her as a good duelist, but he hadn't considered the idea of having an official girlfriend since he came to Duel Academy...yet. He was always in the middle of some test or important duel. Of course, remembering how Rachel hugged him when he won the expulsion duel was enough of a tip off to how she felt.

"Might as well get to class," Davis groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm not going to get any thinking done here."

Packing up his books, Davis headed out for the main Academy building. His cards were in his pocket as always. They were always a comforting to have around. It was certainly a good thing to have as he spent his days at the Academy. As he walked into class, he resigned himself to another day of learning and work.

It was Gym time today and the two of the schools dorms were currently playing America's favorite pastime, Baseball! It was currently the Slifer boys versus the Ra boys as the Slifers were up to bat, while the Ras were in the outfield. All the guys were currently in their white and blue gym clothes with the Slifers were red bandanas on their arms and the Ras wearing yellow ones. It was currently the top of the ninth, with the Slifers leading 3–0. There were two outs and the second and third were bases loaded. Next up to bat, Jaden Yuki!

"Jaden, keep your eye on the ball!" Syrus coached.

"Heh, it'll be hard to do to that…" Jaden replied. "After I hit the ball out of the park, we'll have a six run lead!"

"You wish Jaden." Jaden looked to see Davis, playing catcher for the Yellow team. "All it takes is three strikes, and you're out!"

"Like how I stuck you out, the past three innings?" Jaden taunted. The Avenger duelist growled as he remembered how he kept swinging and missed.

"Hold on! Time out!" A voice called out, running into the baseball field, Bastion Misawa. "I was deep into some ATK point quantum mechanics and lost track of time."

"Can ya throw?" One of the yellow players asked Bastion.

"Sure."

"Well, we need a fresh arm… Pitcher change!" The tired pitcher left the field for Bastion to take the mound.

"This isn't a written exam, Bastion!" Jaden said. "I hope you know what you're getting into!"

"Oh, with Bastion pitching now, it's over…" Davis snickered.

"I believe Mr. Eitoku is right, Jaden." Bastion said, getting ready to throw. "Now get ready; this is coming in red hot!" Bastion didn't even need to wait for the signals as he launched a fast ball, straight down the middle. Jaden missed and Kurogasa caught it.

"Strike one!" Davis called. And as for the next throws…

"Strike two!"

"Strike three, you're out!"

"Nuts!" He shouted.

"I told ya that it's over once Bastion's pitching." Davis said, taking off the catcher's gear. "And if you think his pitching's great, wait 'til you see him bat!" He left for the sidelines to wait his turn to bat.

"Yeah, we'll see…" Jaden said as he took the pitcher's mound, and Syrus took his place as the catcher.

* * *

At the bottom of the ninth, Jaden already struck out the first two batters. But he then he started get sloppy, for some reason…

"Ball 4, take your base!" For the next three batters, with Davis being the third, he walked them all intentionally.

"Time!" Syrus called as the Slifers met at the mound. "Jaden, what happened? You got two outs, and walked the last three batters!"

"Pretty slick, right?" Jaden smirked.

"Slick?" All the Slifers asked.

"Yeah, it was the only way to pitch Bastion!" Jaden revealed.

"What?! You walked all those guys to get even with Bastion?!" Syrus asked.

"Nah, I wanna get ahead!" Jaden declared as Bastion took his place at bat. "You hear that, buddy!? You're going down!"

Bastion put on his helmet and smiled. "Down the base line perhaps." He replied. "Now give your best, Jaden! That is even you can get the ball over the plate."

"You want it!? You got it!" Jaden pitched a fast curveball, hoping to get Bastion to swing and miss. He swung, but it hit!

* * *

Meanwhile, Dr. Crowler was passing by the field trying to think of his next move on getting Jaden kicked out…

"The Paradox Brothers couldn't beat Jaden! Chazz couldn't beat Jaden! I need someone who can beat Ja… AAH!" His ranting was interrupted by a ball straight to his left eye, knocking him into the baseball equipment.

"Heads up!" Crowler popped out of the pile and saw Jaden and Syrus. When the Slifers realized who was hit, they freaked.

"IT'S YOU! WHO ELSE WOULD CAUSE SUCH INTENSE PAIN?!" Crowler cried.

"That's keeping your eye on the ball," Syrus cracked, as Crowler had the ball lodged in the eye.

"Sorry," Jaden said. "It was…"

"My fault!" Bastion came up to them. "I was the one who hit the ball."

"Of course." Crowler said, his mood completely changing as he heard Bastion. "Here I was looking for a new accomplice and here it hits me right in the face! Well the eye, but that's beside the point."

"Dr. Crowler, accept my apologies." Bastion said, bowing in respect.

"No, no, no, I've been meaning to have my contacts refitted for ages and now I have the perfect excuse." Crowler waved off. _'And a new protégé to back me up!'_

"Huh?"

Crowler jumped, he forgotten that Jaden and Syrus were still there. "DO YOU TWO MIND?!"

"Sorry," They said. "See ya, later Bastion!" And they ran off.

"You really shouldn't be associating yourselves with those slackers…" Crowler said. "I think it's time you associate yourself with someone more on your level… like me."

Later on, Davis was sitting by himself in the classroom as he was waiting for Crowler to be finished talking with Bastion seeing as that he was the next teacher. Today he was wearing a black shirt with Bartman OOO's symbol. He was pondering on what Crowler was up to this time.

_'What are you up to this time Crowler?'_ Davis thought. At that point, Shannon and May appeared in spirit form.

_"Something on your mind Davis?"_ Shannon asked.

"Yeah, it's about Crowler." Davis muttered to himself low enough so people weren't thinking that he's talking to himself. "I've been wondering what he's up to this time. And Bastion was with him too."

_"So you don't know what Crowler wanted to talk to him about?"_ May asked.

"Nope. I went over there after seeing what was taking so long, Crowler was walking with him out of the field. I don't see Crowler as the kind of guy to associate with anyone lower than Obelisks."

_"It's worth investigating."_ Shannon offered.

"Maybe…" Davis then heard the door open, and at that point, W and OOO disappeared. But it wasn't Crowler that came through the door, but instead it was the hot–headed Chazz Princeton. "Oh great, the _true_ King of Games is here…" He was being sarcastic, by the way.

Chazz entered the classroom and sat down towards the top of the stadium–style room. "It's good to be at the top. Yo, foot rub and an ice tea, pronto!" He commanded snapping his fingers.

"Get it yourself!" A random Obelisk student snapped.

"What did you say?" Chazz asked the Obelisk. "Go on, say it again; I don't think I heard you."

"Chazz, what are you doing?" Another Obelisk student asked, walking up to him.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Chazz asked rhetorically. "I'm sitting in my seat."

"That's not your seat anymore." The Obelisk informed him.

"You idiot, this seat is mine, I even have a name tag right…" But when Chazz looked again, the name tag that he put there personally to show everyone that only he was supposed to sit there was gone! "What the–!"

"I think you'll find your name tag down there." The Obelisk pointed to a seat towards the bottom near the Ra Yellows. And it was in front of where Davis was sitting.

"Great… now I have sit next to Chazz…" Davis grumbled to himself.

"No way, this has to be some mistake! The next King of Games shouldn't sit with third–rate no–names!" It was then that Dr. Crowler, now sporting a shiner from being hit with the ball, walked into the classroom. "Dr. Crowler, what's the meaning of this? I don't deserve to sit with the losers!"

"Oh I wouldn't say that, Chazz," Crowler said. "After all, it was a loser that beat you… what was his name… oh yeah, Jaden Yuki… A SLIFER!"

_'Geez… you make it sound like he went up to the Egyptian Gods and called them losers.'_ Davis thought.

"That's why tomorrow you're going to duel Bastion Misawa and if you lose to him as well, you two switch dorms!"

Chazz gasped as the dilemma he was in. "You mean… I'd become a Ra Reject?!"

"I guess you're not as half as dumb as you pretend to be, Chazz." Crowler said, even applauding in amusement.

Chazz growled in embarrassment with the rest of the class laughing, Chazz fled the room. "I WON'T BE A RA!"

"Well… that's one mystery solved." Davis said as Bartman OOO appeared.

"_He deserved it,_" said Bart. "_Fair is fair, after all. The boy just reaped what he sowed._"

Davis silently agreed with the traffic-colored Avengers. Chazz deserved everything he got. It was just karma paying him back for being such a jackass.

"And you! Mr. Eitoku!" Crowler said suddenly making the guy in question snap to attention.

"Uh… y–yes?"

"I want to speak with you after class today."

"Uh… o… kay." Davis got out with uncertainty in his voice.

* * *

Later on, Bastion, Syrus and Jaden had their free time, and were currently heading to the Ra dorm.

"Okay, so maybe that last one wasn't a foul ball." Jaden said, talking about the earlier baseball game.

"Jaden, over the center field fence normally isn't." Syrus added.

"I play like I duel," Bastion explained, while showing him a baseball bat with formulas written on it. "You see, I find that statistics, geometry, mathematics, we use all of them in our daily lives."

"You know, I never thought of it that way," Jaden said to Bastion.

"So do you have a formula for everything?" Syrus asked.

Bastion chuckled, "I'll show you."

"Hey guys." Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion turned to see Davis running towards them.

"Hey Davis." The three greeted. "Finished with class?" Bastion asked.

"Yep. What are you guys up to?"

"We're just about to head into Bastion's dorm room and see it." Jaden said. "Wanna come?"

"Eh, why not? I got time." Davis shrugged.

So with that, the four of them went on their way to Bastion's room. While the Ra Yellow dorm, the Slifers thought while it wasn't the posh mansion that the Obelisk dorm was, it was still better looking than the Slifer Red dorm. Bastion led Jaden, Syrus, and Davis to his room which was on the second floor, with Davis' room next to his.

When Bastion opened the door to his dorm room, Jaden and Syrus let out a gasp. The walls and ceiling was covered with equations and formulas.

"Huh… that explains the scratching noises I've been hearing for the first week of school." Davis said.

"Sorry about that." Bastion chuckled. "But nonetheless, welcome to my dorm room," he said. "Also my lab and my workshop." He pointed to the wall his desk was up against. "Over there is formula for trap cards." He swung his hand to point to the opposite wall and ceiling, "Over there is for spell cards." His hand swung again this time pointing to the wall with the window. "And that's… well you get the idea. In here I've cracked the ability to beat almost every card ever made, but as you can see I'm running out of room. So…" He held up a mop and paint bucket with an innocent smile on his face, "Mind helping?."

"Sure." The four set out to whitewash the walls of Bastion's dorm.

* * *

"Hey check it out, I'm Michelangelo," Jaden said while standing on a step ladder, as Syrus, Bastion, and Davis laughed at the joke. "Get it, because I'm painting on the ceilinnnnggg!" Jaden lost his footing and his hold on the brush. The brush went flying right into Syrus's face.

"You do realize, Jaden, that this means war," Syrus said, in mock anger.

"Look, Sy, it was just an accident!" But Syrus was already picking up a paint bucket and getting ready to throw it.

"That's enough, you two." Bastion scolded. "Now give me that paint…" Syrus threw the paint at Jaden but Jaden ducked and the paint covered Bastion's face instead. Jaden burst into laughter. "Oh, funny now is it?" Bastion then tried to smack Jaden's face with a paint rag, but Jaden ducked and hit Davis instead. That got him steamed who immediately fought back with his paint brush, but now he hits Jaden with the paint.

And it was pretty much a paint war after that.

* * *

After a ceasefire, the three got done painting Bastion's room and after cleaning up themselves, Bastion invited his three helpers to the Ra Yellow cafeteria. Jaden and Syrus practically stormed over to the buffet line and grabbed some fish before sitting down in front of the two Ras and started chowing down. Bastion chuckled as he went to get his dinner as Davis sat down with his dinner and Coca Cola in tow and practically stared at Jaden and Syrus's eating habits.

"Are… you guys okay?" Davis asked.

"I don't think I ever had such a good time eating!" Jaden said as he stuffed some fish into his mouth. "Bastion, Davis, you guys are alright."

"Yeah," Syrus agreed. "And so is Ra Yellow's food!"

"Oh, you flatter us," Bastion said bringing over his lobster dinner. "But I'm sure it's not all that much better than Slifer."

Jaden and Syrus's eyes bugged out upon seeing the lobster. "Trust me, the closest thing we have to fish is Banner's cat's breath," Jaden said.

"Wow, now I understand your eating habits." Davissaid looking at them in disbelief.

"By the way Bastion," Syrus said. "What were you talking with Crowler about back at the ball field?"

"Actually, he wants me to test to be an Obelisk." Bastion replied.

"Are you serious?!" Syrus asked.

"It's true." Davis said as everyone turned to him. "Heard from Dr. Crowler himself in class today. Chazz is his test opponent and if Bastion wins, he and Chazz switch dorms."

"Is that why you were cleaning your room, because you were switching dorms?" Jaden smiled. "Well congratulations, Bastion, you deserve it."

"Again, you flatter me." Bastion said, trying to endure the praise.

"But you deserve it, bro!" Jaden insisted. "I saw you duel at the entrance exam. You kicked that Duel Proctor's butt!" Jaden exclaimed. "You'll be a shoe–in to pass Crowler's test!"

"Well thank you."

"And he's not the only one that's going to be tested for Obelisk Blue." Davis said making Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion turn to him. "I am too."

"Really?!" The three of them gaped.

"Yep. Apparently, Crowler has given me this test as a way of congratulating me on my Expulsion Duel last week. "

"Wow! That's great man!" Jaden said happy for Davis. "You deserve it!"

"The color isn't so much an issue with me, but it does feel nice to have my efforts acknowledged," Davis nodded with a grin.

"I can't believe Crowler allowed it though," Syrus commented.

"Well, he _has_ been suspended from his duties in Obelisk Blue," Bastion commented. "Miss Fontaine now holds responsibility for both dorms now remember? It's up to her who gets promotional exams now."

"True." Davis shrugged. He then checked his watch. "Whoops! Got to go! See ya!" He then left after picking up a couple more Cokes.

* * *

Later, Davis was sitting under a tree alone, waiting for someone. He does enjoy some company, sometimes he just liked to sit alone and contemplate. His last few duels had been high risk ones. The ones against Narutaki and Mako were the toughest duels he'd ever faced but he still came out on top.

Davis let out a sigh as he waited. "Wonder what else will happen in this school?"

"Hey, Davis!" Davis looked over to see Rachel running over and she was carrying a picnic basket.

"Hey, Rach!" He waved. When she stopped he stood up. "What's with the basket?"

"Oh, just some lunch I packed up," Rachel smiled. "I was…kind of hoping if you'd like to share. I think I packed a little too much."

"Sure," Davis shrugged. How much could she have brought? Of course, when Jasmine unrolled a picnic blanket and pulled out something out of a cordon bleu restaurant, he was beginning to realize what the Obelisk Blue girl had in mind. Resigning himself to it, he took a seat on the blanket and decided to help himself. As expected of Obelisk Blue cooks, the quality was much higher than anything Ra Yellow had. It almost made the cooked lobster and shrimp taste like slop. "Oh wow."

"Good huh?" Rachel smiled. She helped herself to some of her own food. "Say, do you know what Chazz's problem was today? Most of the male students have been laughing at him for some reason. As usual, he's in one of his bad moods and won't talk to anyone. Not even his two cronies."

"Oh, well since he lost to Jaden, Chazz is being tested in a duel against Bastion Misawa," Davis explained.

"The guy who gave Professor Crowler that black eye with a baseball?" Rachel asked.

"That's the one," Davis nodded. "Well, this is Chazz's big chance to prove he has what it takes to be in Obelisk Blue. If he can't beat Bastion, then he's going to be demoted down to Ra Yellow and Bastion is going to get promoted to Obelisk Blue. With the way Chazz bolted from class, he acted like being in Ra Yellow was like being diagnosed with leprosy. Of course, running from the room screaming probably didn't help his image much."

"Jeez, what a drama queen," Rachel grimaced. "Well, he may be one of the top ranked duelists in Obelisk Blue, but his attitude really stinks."

"No kidding," Davis sighed. "And you know what else...?"

As the pair were chatting and eating the amazing food, they didn't know that they were being spied on. In some bushes a few feet away, Mindy, Jasmine and Alexis were watching them. Mindy and Jasmine had an impish grin on their face while Alexis had moderate amusement on hers. The trio saw their friend fill a basket with their best food before heading out. Since Mindy and Jasmine were curious, Alexis got dragged along with them. They loved romantic stuff like this and Alexis was just making sure that she stayed out of trouble.

"Why are we spying like this?" Alexis whispered to her friends. "We already now they like each other."

"You didn't see what I saw in her notebook," Mindy giggled as she handed a piece of paper to her blonde friend.

Alexis took the paper and examined it before her eyes got wide. All over the sides of the paper were little doodles and hearts that were all seen in every girl who had a big crush. She had seen Mindy do it with several boys during the time she knew her. In this case, there were hearts with R+D in them or the name Rachel Figueroa written on the sides. Other little doodles were chibi-fied pictures of Davis wearing outfits of his male Avengers without the helmets with a chibi-fied Jasmine in his arms.

"She's got it bad," Alexis giggled quietly "But then why are we spying?"

"We want to see how strong Davis feels back for her," Jasmine answered. "Then we can plan on how to get them to confess to each other."

"So, you're going to be the meddling matchmaker," observed Alexis.

"Hey, Rachel's our best friend just like you," said Mindy.

"So we gotta help her find love." Jasmine added.

"And what about your love lives?" teased Alexis.

Mindy and Jasmine quieted down.

* * *

The next day there was trouble. While heading over to the Slifer Dorms to see how Jaden and the others were doing, Davis spotted them at the lighthouse with Ms. Dorothy the card shop owner looking out at the water. Curious, he went over to see what was going on. Getting closer to what was happening, he spotted a deck's worth of Duel Monster cards floating in the water. He didn't recognize a few of them, but he did spot the Ring of Destruction and the Vorse Raider floating in the water. Some of the cards even had math calculations on them.

"Don't tell me," Davis gasped. "Bastion, were these your cards?"

"Indeed," Bastion sighed. "It's my own fault. I left my deck out in the desk we moved out of my room so the paint could dry."

"Oh man, and your promotion duel is in an hour! What are you going to do Bastion?"

The Ra Yellow student remained silent. Davis was just as quiet. He couldn't believe that someone would disrespect cards like this. Davis treated every card like it was his best friend and in the case of his Avengers, they were. His fists clenched as he felt his anger boil over at this…insult to another duelist.

"Hey Davis," Syrus piped up. "You live next to Bastion, right? Did you hear anything?"

"No," Kotaro sighed. "Even if I did, I probably would have assumed it was another Ra Yellow student coming back late or something."

"Still, who would do something like this?" Ms. Dorothy asked.

"Obviously someone who doesn't want Bastion to duel," Davis frowned. "And I think we can all agree on the one person who has lots to gain if Bastion can't make it to his next duel."

"CHAZZ!" the group gasped.

"Yup, he didn't want to risk losing his place so he decided to cheat and get rid of Bastion's deck. I've always known he was a slimeball," said Davis.

"So, Chazz is gonna force Bastion to forfeit and win by default? No fair!" Syrus stated.

"Hey, if he can't win fairly, he'll win unfairly. It happens," said Davis. "So, Bastion, what are you going to do now?"

"It's alright. This is a small problem and I've got a solution," said Bastion. "Now, let's get to that duel, shall we?"

Davis nodded, smiling. He knew someone like Bastion would have a backup plan somewhere in that brain of his.

Jaden, Syrus, and Bastion soon arrived at the Main Dueling Arena where the promotion exams will be taken. Miss Fontaine, Dr. Crowler and Chazz were there along with… Rachel?

"Ah, Bastion, you arrived." Crowler said. But then frowned a bit, when he saw Jaden and Syrus, "And I see that you've brought some friends with you to watch."

"Hey guys!" Rachel waved to Jaden, Syrus, Davis, and Bastion.

"I can't believe you Chazz!" Jaden frowned at the Obelisk Blue boy. "I thought you were low, but to go _this_ low? You would throw away your opponent's Deck into the ocean before he can duel you? How low can you get?"

"What?!" Rachel shouted.

"Excuse me?!" Miss Fontaine asked shocked.

"Pardon?!" Crowler asked in genuine disbelief.

"I don't know what he's talking about, I didn't do a thing." Chazz denied.

"Oh, is that so?" Everyone turned to see Zane, Alexis, and Davis standing at the entrance. "I saw you Chazz, when Kurogasa chased you to the docks; you dumped those cards into the water!" Alexis said. "Normally, I don't like to snitch but if there's one thing you don't do, it's messing with another duelist's deck!"

"That's low, Chazz, even for you," Jaden said.

"Oh come on, how do you know I wasn't throwing away my own cards?" Chazz said, still lying. "I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks."

"Is that so?" a new voice asked. Everyone turned to see who had spoke and they found two Obelisk students one was Alexis, but the other was a male with a white jacket and blue highlights. He had shoulder length green/blue hair and had a stern look on his face. Both of them were glaring holes into Chazz from where they had entered the arena.

"Alexis? Zane?" Jaden asked in confusion.

'_So this is the enigmatic Zane Truesdale,_' Davis thought to himself. '_He's got the look of a powerful duelist at least_,'

"I saw you out there last night," Alexis frowned as she continued speaking. "This morning out by the lighthouse, I saw you toss those cards out into the water before you ran for it. I don't usually snitch, but if there's one thing you don't do, it's messing with another duelist's deck!"

Everyone present realized that they now had Chazz in the act. Even Crowler looked less than impressed with the accusations that were being thrown at his opponent. Chazz just looked like he was going to burst a vein from being so angry.

"No kidding," Davis growled. "Only the lowest duelists do stuff like that."

"Oh come on," Chazz snorted. "Who's to say those cards weren't mine? I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks."

"LIAR!" Davis snapped angrily.

"Hey! No one calls me a liar and NO ONE calls me a thief!" Chazz growled dangerously.

"Fine, you aren't one," Bastion frowned as he defused the situation. "Let's just duel, shall we?"

"But how are you going to do that Bastion? You don't have a deck," Jaden reminded his friend.

"A good duelist always has more than one deck," Bastion replied as he unbuttoned his jacket. "You remember those calculations in my room, correct? Well, those weren't just for my one deck, they were for ALL my dueling decks! Each one as powerful as the others!"

Bastion opened his jacket to reveal six deck holsters underneath the yellow uniform. Each of the holsters were filled with a deck that Bastion had created himself through endless calculations on trap, monsters, and magic cards. If they were anything like the deck Bastion had used to battle the proctor, Davis didn't think Chazz was going to have an easy time as he had first assumed. In fact, it was probably going to be harder than he expected.

'_Let's see if your self-believed Obelisk superiority gets you through this, butthole,_' Davis through to himself.

"Fine, you got more decks!" said Chazz scornfully. "So what? Doesn't mean you'll win."

"We'll see about that," said Bastion as he attached his duel disk to his arm. "Shall we?"

"Lets," Chazz frowned as he inserted his deck and activated his disc. Bastion did the same. The two boys stood across from each other as their Duel Discs really kicked into high gear.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Chazz:** 4000

**Bastion:** 4000

"Get ready! Because here comes the hurt!" Chazz said drawing his sixth card. "I summon Chthonian Soldier!" The same dark armored warrior that faced Kurogasa appeared. (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1400) "And a card facedown, that'll do it for now." He concluded as he placed a reverse card on the Field.

"Oh will it now?" Bastion asked as he drew his sixth card.

"Sounds like Bastion has something up his sleeve." Jaden commented.

"He works quickly," Alexis said as she and Zane came up to stand besides Jaden and Syrus along with Davis and Rachel who got off the platform.

"I summon Hydrogeddon in ATK mode!" Bastion declared. "Hydrogeddon, arise!" A geyser of muddy water rose up and created a gray and brown dinosaur with an amphibian tail. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000) "Now attack Chthonian Soldier! Hydro Gust! Destroy him!" The muddy water dinosaur let out a blast of mud water that sprayed and destroyed the soldier.

"Thanks, you just activated my Soldier's special ability!" Chazz announced. "It causes you to take the same amount of Damage to your Life Points as I do!"

**Chazz:** 3600

**Bastion:** 3600

"Not bad," Zane commented.

"Bastion walked right into that one," Jaden said.

"But for good reason." Davis added.

"I activate a special ability also," Bastion said. "You see, Chazz, when Hydrogeddon successfully destroys a Monster in battle, I'm allowed to summon another Hydrogeddon from my Deck. So rise, Hydrogeddon!" Bastion took another Hydrogeddon card from his Deck and summoned it. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000) "And my Battle Phase continues which means that now I can wage a Direct Attack on you, Chazz. Go, Hydrogeddon, Hydro Gust Attack!" The new Hydrogeddon fired its attack. Chazz screamed as he was knocked down by the attack.

**Chazz:** 2000

**Bastion:** 3600

"You'll pay for that," Chazz said getting up as he drew his next card. "I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted! This lets me summon a Monster back from my Graveyard and the monster I choose is… that's right, Chthonian Soldier!" Chthonian Soldier was back on the field. "Next, I activate the spell Infernal Reckless Summon! After I Special Summon a Monster with 1500 ATK or less, we must summon in ATK mode, all Monsters from our Hand, Deck, or Graveyard that match the Monsters we currently have on the Field. And I'll bring out my other Chthonian Soldiers!" He said as he took two more out from his Deck and summoned them. (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1400) x2

"It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't matter how many of those things Chazz summons," Alexis said as Bastion summoned a third Hydrogeddon. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000) "They still won't have enough attack points to beat those Hydrogeddons."

"Not by themselves, they won't." Zane said as Chazz took a card from his hand.

"I activate the Equip Spell, Chthonian Alliance! The monster this card is equipped to gains 800 ATK points for every Monster on the Field with the same name as it." The Chthonian Soldier on Chazz's left growled as it was covered in dark energy, and grew three times its normal size. "That brings its ATK points up to… well you're the math nerd, you figure it out."

"3600…" Rachel groaned. The spectators excluding Davis and Zane gasped at the power, the soldier was giving off.

Chthonian Soldier (4/ATK: 1200–3600/DEF: 1400)

"Chthonian Solider, attack, one of those Hydrogeddons!" Chazz commanded. The giant, Chthonian Soldier slashed through the middle Hydrogeddon. Bastion grunted from the damage.

**Chazz:** 2000

**Bastion:** 1600

"Oh no!" Rachel shouted.

"Bastion's Life Points have gone down by more than half!" Syrus said. "He's losing the duel!"

"Relax Syrus, Bastion's got this. There's no way he'll lose this one." Davis assured him.

"Bravo, good show," Bastion said drawing a card, not even caring about the loss of points he had. "But it will be short lived. Rise, Oxygeddon!" A Pteranadon monster made of green air appeared in a from an Oxygen geyser (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 800) "Now attack one of the 1200 point Chthonian Soldier with Vapor Stream!" The oxygen made pteranadon breathed a clear air blast at one of the weaker soldiers, taking it out.

**Chazz:** 1400

**Bastion:** 1600

"Forget?" Chazz scoffed. "When my Soldier's destroyed, you take the same amount of Damage as me! Some Whiz Kid _you_ are!"

**Chazz:** 1400

**Bastion:** 1000

"My turn's not through. Next my Hydrogeddon will attack your other Chthonian Soldier!" Once again, Bastion ordered one of his Hydrogeddons to attack and destroy the Soldier, causing both players to take the same amount of damage from Chthonian Soldier's special ability.

"That Damage still goes back to you loser!" Chazz taunted.

**Chazz:** 1000

**Bastion:** 600

"Oh man why does Bastion keep attacking when he's hurting himself more than he's hurting Chazz?" Syrus said.

"He's fine," Jaden assured Syrus.

"And playing smart too," Zane added. "The Chthonian Soldier with the equip card has 3600 ATK points. Bastion would have to summon an incredibly powerful monster to beat him. Unless however…" The large Chthonian Solider lost most of its power.

Chthonian Soldier (4/ATK: 3600–2000/DEF: 1400)

"Wait, I see, unless he takes out the other Chthonian Soldiers and lowers the big one's ATK points!" Syrus realized.

"Right, Sy, so if Bastion's going to win this, he's going to have to give up some Life Points." Davis said.

"Last, I'll place this card facedown." A reverse card appeared on his Field. "That'll do for now."

"Will it? I wouldn't be so sure about it, Whiz Kid!" Chazz taunted as he drew his next card. "I sacrifice my Chthonian Soldier and all the cards in my Hand in order to summon Infernal Incinerator! Bet you didn't see _that_ coming." He started to laugh as his soldier was engulfed in an inferno sphere.

"Infernal Incinerator!?" Bastion gaped. The sphere started to explode, covering the field in smoke and from it; a giant fiend salamander appeared with the top half of a Chthonian Solider on the head. (6/ATK: 2800/DEF: 1800)

"Better break out your calculator because if you can't figure out a way to beat this guy, you're through!" Chazz said. Face it, Bastion; you have no chance against my Infernal Incinerator. Especially since he gains 200 ATK points for every Monster you have on the Field!"

Infernal Incinerator (6/ATK: 2800–3400/DEF: 1800)

"That thing has 3400 ATK points?!" Rachel gawked. "That means no matter which Monster receives the attack, Bastion's through!"

"Infernal Incinerator, attack with Firestorm Blast!" The monster opened its mouth revealing a row of sharp teeth and launched a huge ball of fire at Oxygeddon.

"Bastion!" Jaden cried as the blast was nearing Bastion's monster.

"I activate my trap card Amorphic Barrier!" A wall of ice crystal pillars rose up around Bastion's monsters. "When I have three or more Monsters, this trap card stops my opponent's attack and ends the Battle Phase. But nice try, Chazz."

"That was close." Syrus said.

"So what?" Chazz said, not caring in the slightest. "One turn, that's all it buys you and then you'll be all mine!"

"I'm afraid there won't be a next turn." Bastion declared as he drew his card.

"What?"

"You heard me, and I activate the Spell Card, Bonding H2O!" Bastion inserted a spell that showed a beaker, being poured to create water. "I sacrifice two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon…" The three monsters turned into geysers and combined. "…and summon Water Dragon!" The geysers formed a large serpent like dragon made of pure water. (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600) "And since the number of Monsters on my side of the Field has decreased, so does Infernal Incinerator's ATK points."

Infernal Incinerator (6/ATK: 3400–3000/DEF: 1800)

"Doesn't matter, my Monster's ATK points are still higher than yours." Chazz smirked.

"Better double check your work," Bastion warned. "Because I've already done all the math!"

"All the math?" Crowler questioned. "Does that mean that…?"

Jaden confirmed Crowler's suspicions. "Bastion had this planned from the very start?"

"Told ya, Bastion got this one." Davis said. The Water Dragon created a large tsunami wave of water that washed over Infernal Incinerator, that took all of its power away from it.

Infernal Incinerator (6/ATK: 3000–0/DEF: 1800)

"No, it's ATK points!" Chazz cried.

"Indeed, that's Water Dragon's special ability." Bastion explained. "You see when he's out on the Field, the ATK points of FIRE attribute and Pyro–type Monsters automatically become 0. Now Water Dragon, attack! Tidal Blast!" The dragon fired a high pressured blast of water that washed Infernal Incinerator again this time destroying it and knocking Chazz from the stage and dousing the whole arena in water even though it's only holographic.

**Chazz:** 0

**Bastion:** 600

* * *

"A lucky draw, that's it!" Chazz snapped as the water vanished. "You drew the right card and stumbled into the win!

"Hardly. Fortune favors the prepared though," Bastion retorted as his dragon vanished. "If the duel hadn't turned out this way I would have had over half a dozen other ways to beat you. Still, deny it all you want. Just like you denied throwing my deck into the ocean."

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" Chazz snapped.

"If you insist," Bastion sighed as he reached into his pocket. He then fished out a soggy Vorse Raider card. Near the bottom where the attack points were displayed, there was a mathematical equation that was written on it. "I managed to fish this card out of the ocean. It has a formula that I wrote on it. I suppose you could have written it, but the math would probably have been wrong. I've checked, and it isn't. Chazz, you lied, you stole, you cheated. You deserve to be demoted!"

'_Serves him right!_' Sam scowled at the Obelisk…well, former Obelisk Blue student as he appeared in spirit form next to Davis.

"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!" Chazz yelled.

Miss Fontaine crossed her arms, feeling most impatient with Chazz's actions. The boy was hailed as one of the best freshmen of the new school year. Yet, when it started to look like he was being challenged the boy seemed to crumble and panic by using absolutely any means possible to win. What was Crowler doing when he was in charge of the Obelisk boys? Did he turn a blind eye to anything they did simply because of his elitist views on the Obelisks? Miss Fontaine had expected a level of behavior from her girls in the girl's dorm. If she heard about someone bullying other students or heaven forbid attempting to cheat in duels she would bring the hammer down and hard!

"That's enough Mr. Princeton!" Miss Fontaine frowned, walking towards the now former Obelisk. "You lost. It happens in duels and despite what you seem to think it can happen to you too. Instead of trying to sharpen your skills though, it seems you've done everything in your power to win without even trying! Normally I'd have you investigated for cheating, especially since Bastion and Kurogasa have proof of your attempt to cheat. Instead, maybe working your way back up from Ra Yellow will give you some decent work ethic." Chazz stayed silent as she then turned to Bastion. "Bastion, Congratulations, and welcome to Obelisk Blue."

"Thank you, Miss Fontaine but I'm afraid I must decline the invitation."

"Oh? And why's that?" Miss Fontaine asked.

"When I first arrived at this Academy, I made a promise that I would only enter Obelisk Blue when I become the number one student in the freshman class." Bastion said, turning to the Slifer. "Jaden, of all the new students, I think that number one student is you."

"Hey thanks, does that mean you want to settle this right here?" Jaden asked. "I mean seeing you guys duel really made me want to get my game on."

"Sorry, but not now."

"Why not?"

"Because I have a lot of work to do before I duel you, many formulas to write, theorems to solve, equations to bounce. You're a good Duelist and I want to be ready." Bastion explained. "Soon my dorm room walls will be filled with new problems and equations and we _will_ have our duel. But until then…" He turned to Davis giving him a small smile to his fellow Ra who could possibly be Obelisk Blue. "Let's have Davis have his shot to be Obelisk Blue. He's earned it."

"Wait, Davis is being tested too?" Alexis asked who was a bit surprised.

"Yeah, you didn't hear? Crowler himself told me. I accepted his offer of taking the test." Davis explained. "So let's do this!" He grinned.

"Good luck then." Alexis said as Davis took his place on the platform. Rachel took her place as well.

"So you're ready Rachel?"

"That's right! And I'm not gonna hold back! My Harpies and I are gonna hit ya with everything we got!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Davis smirked as he took his Deck out of his deck box. He placed his Deck in the deck slot and the Duel Disk went from standby to active. Rachel did the same thing as well. Both players then drew their starting Hand.

"DUEL!"

**Davis: 4000**

**Rachel: 4000**

Jasmine drew her card. "I'll go first and summon out Harpie Lady 1 in attack mode and then her special ability activates! All Wind Monsters gain 300 ATK!" she declared as the red haired harpy arrived (4/ATK: 1300-1600/DEF: 1400). "Then I activate the spell, Elegant Egotist! This card can help me search for another Harpie Lady or the Sisters and Special Summon it from my hand or deck so I choose the Harpie Lady Sisters in ATK mode!" A trio of Harpies then appeared (6/ATK: 1950-2250/DEF: 2100). "I set one card facedown and end my turn!"

Davis raised an eyebrow at this particular deck. _"This is new"_ He thought. _"Guess I'll see more of her deck in this Duel!"_

"I draw!" He looked at his hand and picked out a card. "I activate Double Summon which allows me to bring out two monster instead of one! So come out Wild Thing and Gagagigo!" He declared as the feral mutant (4/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1400) appeared on his side of field along with a monster that wasn't with the Avengers: a lizardman named Gagagigo(4/ATK: 1850/DEF: 1000). "Next up is an old favourite, Mystical Space Typhoon, I destroy your face down!" He declared as Jasmine's facedown was none other than a Hysteric Party as Davis pointed at the Sisters. "Gagagigo, attack the Harpie Lady 1!" Davis commanded as the lizardman nodded in response before dashing forward and struck upon the Harpie with his claws, causing an explosion, depowerment of the Sisters (6/ATK: 2250-1950/DEF: 2100), and Rachel to lose some Life Points.

**Davis: 4000 **

**Rachel: 3750**

"Then I'll have Wild Thing attack the Sisters! Go Laura!" Davis added.

_"Finally. Now you three will see why I'm the next best at what I do!"_ Laura said as she unsheathed her claws and struck out at the Sisters with them, causing an another explosion and a little more of Rachel losing Life Points.

**Davis: 4000 **

**Rachel: 3600**

"I'll then set two cards facedown and end my turn." Davis stated as he slid two facedown Spell/Trap cards in their slots as their images appeared behind Laura and Gagagigo.

"I draw!" Rachel called out. Her hand was now at four as she examined it. "I send Harpie Queen to my graveyard to add a Harpies Hunting Ground from my deck to my hand which I now play and thanks to this, if I Normal or Special Summon a Harpie Lady monster, I can destroy 1 Spell or Trap on the field and all Winged Beast monsters gain 200 ATK and DEF!" The normal spacious Duelling Exam Room changed to become a rather open wide area with a blue sky and the dirty ground. "Next I play _my_ Double Summon, summoning Harpie Ladies 2 and 3 in ATK mode and thanks to this Field Spell, I can destroy your left facedown card while they gain 200 ATK and DEF from the Hunting Ground!" She declared as the other two winged women, one orange-haired (4/ATK: 1300-1500/ DEF: 1400-1600) and one spiky haired (4/ATK: 1300-1500/ DEF: 1400-1600), appeared from the sky and Davis' left facedown was destroyed by the effect.

"Crap." Davis muttered.

"I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards then set one card facedown." She stated.

Davis declared. "I draw!"

His hand was at three as he looked at it before hearing Rachel call out. "I activate Hysteric Party, now all I need to do is discard one card in my hand and then I can Special Summon as many Harpie Ladies as I want, so I send another Harpie Lady 2 and bring back Harpie Queen, Harpie Lady 3 and Harpie Lady 1 and the Harpie Lady Sisters! A whole bunch of Harpies, consisting of the previous four he had seen so far and a long, green-haired Harpie.

Harpie Lady 1 (ATK/1800 DEF/1600).

Harpie Lady 2 (ATK/1800 DEF/1600)

Harpie Lady 3 (ATK/1800 DEF/1600)

Harpie Queen (ATK/2400 DEF/1400)

Harpie Lady Sisters (ATK/2450 DEF/2300)

"_What are you going to do here Davis? Will you find a way out or will you fall?_" She thought to herself.

"That's… one impressive field." Davis managed to say and Rachel gave a grin. "Don't think flattery's going to work!" She teased and he looked at his hand. "_Let's see, I got to take down more than three Harpie's at once but Laura or Gagagigo here cannot hold a candle to the Queen or the sisters, plus if I destroyed Harpie Lady 3, her effect would stop the monster that battled with it from attacking for two turns, and I can't afford to let that happen._" He thought and took out a card from his hand of three. "I activate an Avenger's Bonds! If I have at least 1 monster on my field, I can Special Summon two more from my deck however, they cannot attack, so I call from my deck, Rikku and Bartman OOO!" The mechanic (4/ATK:1500/ DEF:1600) and the the silhouette of the man appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. He took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor. Becoming Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"And these two monsters are going to help each other with their effects, I'll show you by first selecting Rikku, once per turn, all the cards in my Graveyard return to my Deck!" he declared as the cards did so.

"Next comes Bart's effect, he gains 100 ATK for every monster on the Field and I count nine!"

Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000–2900/DEF: 2000-2900)

Rachel nodded as Davis shown a familiar card. "Time for Pot of Greed to draw two more cards in my Deck." He said as he drawn two more cards, bringing his hand back to three and gave a smile.

**"THIS IS IT!"** He declared.

"He's got the duel won already?" Alexis gasped.

"Uh–oh…" Rachel gulped.

"Next I activate the Spell, OOO Roulette!" Davis said next playing a card depicting a array of various different colored crests. "I roll a die, and OOO will gain a new form depending on the roll! Go, dice roll!" He yelled. A huge die came out of the card and dropped to the ground. It rolled, for a few seconds until it landed on a 3. "Yeah, it's a 3! With that, I can Special Summon Bartman OOO – SaGoZo Form! And I'll special summon him from my Hand!" OOO took out the three coins and replaced them with three silver ones. One had a picture of a rhinoceros, the second, a gorilla, and the third, an elephant. OOO then scanned the medals.

**RHINO! ****GORILLA! ****ELEPHANT! SAGOZO!**

**SAGOZO… ** **…** **…** **SAGOZO!**

**BGM: Sun Goes Up**

OOO became surrounded by spinning colored Medals by the spinning medals again. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Rhino was on the top, Gorilla was in the middle, and Elephant was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor.

The helmet had become more cylindrical with grey plating covering the most of it, grey ridges running above the temples and even a horn decorated with a red stone on my forehead. Completing the look were the eyepieces which had turned ruby red. The shoulder pads were larger and more angular with several grey lines running along the edges. The forearms were covered in large gauntlets which were almost entirely silver save for black lines decorating them. From a distance. As for the legs, the thighs were covered in segmented grey armor on the sides. The knees downward were covered in more grey armor which was segmented running down his shins while the knees and feet sported jagged tips (7/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000).

"Then I activate the Trap, No Entry and the Spell, Going All Out!" Davis declared revealing his facedown and the card from his hand. "All our Monsters are now switched to DEF mode but mine will sty in ATK mode!" The Harpies took a knee. "Going All Out also allows my monsters to attack without you having you activate any card or effects at all! And now I'll have OOO attack Harpie Lady 2 with SaGoZo Impact!" Davis said. "And here's the best part, when he destroy a monster, all your monster in defense mode are gone!" Rachel gasped as Bart scanned the medals again.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

He manipulated the gravity to lift him into the air and then he weights himself down to hit the ground with a powerful stomp, trapping the Harpie in the ground that forms around it. The reformed ground moves toward OOO and Harpie Lady 2 was struggling to get away but couldn't because of the gravity. He delivered a powerful double handed punch and head butt at the same time at the monster.

_"SEE–YAAAAAH!"_ Barti yelled as the Harpie was destroyed. The waves of gravity got to the other Harpies as well and destroyed them into pixels.

"And now for the finisher! Avengers finish it off!"

"What?!" Rachel gasped.

"He won!" Alexis gasped as well.

The rest of the monsters attacked one by one until Rachel lost all of her LP.

**Davis: 4000 **

**Rachel: 0  
**

The duel disks deactivated, the holograms disappeared, and Davis just stood there. He knew he was gonna win and he did it. He won. Turning to his friends, he saw them all cheering and whistling out their congratulations.

"All right Davis!" Jaden cheered. "You did it!"

"Way to play!" Syrus grinned.

"Well played," Bastion grinned.

Zane crossed his arms at the sight, but those that knew him best could tell that there was approval there. Davis was one of those precious few who earned their place in Obelisk Blue, not buy their way in or use something other than skill to get there.

"Great job!" Rachel said as she nearly catapulted into him as she gave him a congratulatory hug and kiss even though she had lost, and soon the two were joined by their closest friends.

"I must say that was impressive," Miss Fontaine beamed, applauding Davis. "Certainly more than good enough to prove you're capable of being in Obelisk Blue! Congratulations on entering Obelisk Blue!"

"Ah… yeah," Davis blinked, still amazed that he had managed to prove himself up for promotion.

"Yes. Congratulations." Dr. Crowler said coming up to him. "I think this promotion is definitely worth the prize for your victory last week."

"Yeah, you definitely earned the promotion!" Jaden said.

"You sure did. Congratulations." Rachel smiled.

"Thanks Rach." Davis said. Rachel couldn't help but giggle at what he said.

"You earned it," Alexis smiled. "How about we get you fitted for a blue blazer?"

"Yeah, sure. And after that, we party!" Davis cheered as took out a stereo and held it above his head a full blast, echoing was the music "Friday" by Rebecca Black with Davis singing to it along with Jaden, who also liked the song:

_IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY_

_GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY_

_EVERYBODY'S LOOKIN FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND, WEEKEND_

_FRIDAY, FRIDAY_

_GETTIN' DOWN ON FRIDAY_

_EVERYBODY'S LOOKIN FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND_

_PARTYIN' PARTYIN'_

YEAH!

PARTYIN'_ PARTYIN' _

Jaden:_ YEAH!_

_FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN_

_LOOKIN' FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND!_

"I'm proud of his victory, but I'm disappointed in his choice of song." Bastion said since he's one of those people who hates that song. While Davis was continuing singing the song with Jaden, Rachel, and Syrus joining in, the rest of company along with Miss Fontaine and Crowler were covering their ears cuz they're just like Bastion as they all went out of the arena to celebrate with Davis on his promotion. All but one person… Chazz. He was still seething from the defeat Bastion handed to him.

Everything was falling apart.

"First I get demoted…" Chazz said to himself. "And now that Avenger Reject gets _pro_moted. Well fine!" Chazz snarled getting up to his feet. "If Duel Academy won't acknowledge the talent and skill I have, then I'll just go someplace that will! This crummy cut–rate school won't give me the respect I deserve? Fine! I'm outta here then!"

_IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY_

_GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY_

_EVERYBODY'S LOOKIN FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND, WEEKEND_

"AND I (BLEEP)IN' HATE REBECCA BLACK!" Chazz shouted, proving his hatred. And with that, he stormed off.


	8. Chapter 8: Of Monkeys and Monarchs

Chapter 11: Of Monkeys And Monarch

Academy Island…

A place where Duel Academy, the best school where students strive to become the best duelists, resides. There were the three dorms: Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue. And there was the fourth dorm called the Abandoned Dorm, which no one goes to. I know what you're thinking though. That's all what Academy Island is about right? WRONG! Because somewhere in a remote corner of the island, a hidden facility was stationed. It's been there for who knows how long or if someone has discovered it; for all we know, it might be like the Abandoned Dorm…

*CRASH!*

Or maybe not…

*WARNING!* *WARNING!*

"Code red, I repeat code red!"

Inside the facility, there were a lot of suits and scientists running around, in search of something or getting some tranquilizer guns. "We must hurry; the specimen can't be allowed to escape." One of the security guards yelled, readying his gun.

Somewhere else in the facility, a monkey with some tech helmet and a duel disk ran out of a room, heading to the elevator. The doors opened revealing a guard with a gun. The guard fired but the specimen was too fast for it. It leapt into the elevator, hopped on the guard's head, then onto the outside roof of the elevator. It rode the elevator to the top where it broke a window and escaped into the night.

* * *

The next morning, Chazz walked out of the school with a small bag. He took one last look at the school and sneered saying, "Stinkin' Duel Academy; you demote me, you laugh at me? Well I've had it!" He then continues to walk through to the docks saying, "You won't have Chazz Princeton to kick around anymore!"

* * *

Meanwhile… while _that_ was happening, Davis was sleeping in his old room in the Ra Yellow. After partying over at the Ra Yellow cafeteria with Jaden and company over his promotion to Obelisk Blue, he decided to crash in his old room before heading over to the Obelisk Blue Dorm, where he will be staying from now on. He opened up his eyes slowly, got up from bed, and stretched his arms out. He looked around and saw all of his stuff were packed up and ready to be moved to his new dorm.

"Man, what a good night sleep I had…" Davis yawned as he got out of bed and decided to get some clothes from his luggage before taking a shower. Then the Avenger spirits appeared.

_"So… how does it feel to be in Obelisk Blue?"_ Bart asked.

"Well…I guess it's freakin sweet!" That got Bart to laugh.

_"That's good to hear."_ Bart said.

_"You're moving on, kid." _Sam said giving him a pat on the back.

_"We're really proud of you."_ Rikku said. _"All of us are."_

_"Davis, don't let this go to your head. Even though you're in Obelisk Blue now, you still need to improve and get better,"_ Shannon advised him.

"Yeah I know that. What's the use of earning my place if I don't try to get better?"

_"That's true."_ Laura said. _"And you'll keep on training until you're the best at what you do, right bub?"_

"Right." Davis nodded.

* * *

So after taking a shower and stuff, Davis puts on his clothes and for his shirt today, he wore an Iron Man-based shirt. And after putting on his new Obelisk Blue blazer jacket on, keeping it unbuttoned, he got his entire luggage and headed out the door. After walking for a few minutes, he arrived at the doors of Obelisk Blue. Just by looking at it, one would think that it was huge palace, but all it is, is just another dorm. When he went in, he was amazed at what he saw.

The foyer was huge! The walls were white marble and black marble covered the vast floor. Along the walls were couches set up in square units so students could sit together in groups. At the back of the room was an elegant staircase that split into two other stairwells that circled the room halfway along its perimeter as they led up to the second floor. Hanging from the ceiling was a crystal chandelier. But what impressed Davis the most was the foyer's centerpiece. In the dead center of the massive room was a life size statue of Obelisk the Tormentor.

"Holy crap, I'm staying _here_?!" he said out loud.

"Ah Mr. Eitoku," Crowler came and greeted him. "It's good to see that you have arrived. I shall take you to your dorm room personally as well as tell you our rules."

"Um… sure. Lead the way, sir."

* * *

So with that, Dr. Crowler led Davis to his room. They went through the hallways of the first floor and up the stairs to second floor and finally to the third. As they continued to walk and Davis listening to Dr. Crowler about the rules in Obelisk Blue, Davis noticed besides, the extravagant designs of the entire dormitory looking like an extravagant hotel, that the first floor of rooms had room numbers in the 100's and 200's, the second floor, 300's and 400's, and the last floor, 500's and 600's. Soon they arrived at his room.

"Here is your room Mr. Eitoku." Crowler said. Davis looked at the door and noticed the number was Room 200.

_'Heh. 200. reminds me of Stark Tower__.'_ Davis chuckled in his thoughts.

Just as they were about to enter, the door behind them opened up. Both Crowler and Davis turned to see who it was and were surprised, well Kurogasa was, to see Zane standing there. "Ah Mr. Truesdale, you are an acquaintance of Mr. Eitoku am I right?"

"Yes," Zane answered. He then turned towards the Avenger Duelist. "I take it we are going to be neighbors then."

"I guess we are," Davis smiled as the two men shook hands.

"I want you to show him around the building Mr. Truesdale. It would help me since I still have other obligations to do," Crowler told the two boys.

"I got it Dr. Crowler," Zane replied. Crowler then handed Davis the card key.

"Oh and when you're finished settling in, Chancellor Sheppard wants to see you." Davis nodded at this and with that, and turned on his heels. The Avenger Duelist then took his keycard and slid it into the lock, waited for two seconds, and then pulled it out. As soon as he got the green light, he turned the handle and stepped inside. It was already fully furnished and had a large table with a pot of flowers in the middle of it. His bed was a large king size that was about a quarter bigger than the one in his Ra Room. There was a terrace balcony that looked out, this time it over looked the large lake and had a decent view of the Girls Dorm. Next to the window was a desk with a complete desktop computer. Against the adjacent wall was a large mahogany dresser. Beside it was a full length mirror. There were a couple of couches in various places of the room. And attached to the wall right in front of the bed was a forty–two inch flat screen plasma television.

"Well damn," Davis scoffed in surprise. "This room is great. It's about the size of my living room back home if not a bit bigger."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Zane chuckled a bit. "When you're done settling in, come downstairs so I can show you to the dining room for breakfast."

"Sure." Kurogasa nodded. And with that, Zane left the room. As soon as he was gone, the Avenger spirits appeared and Sam practically got giddy at seeing the room.

_"Now _THIS_ is what I call a room!"_ Sam exclaimed with pure utter excitement. _"Look at it; All nice and furnished. There are couches and a T.V. it's so-"_

_"We get it already Sam!"_ Ava shouted as she smacked him upside the head.

"Oh, let him have his moment Ava." Davis said as he placed his luggage to the side and went out to the terrace balcony. "The view on the terrace balcony is great." He said breathing in the fresh morning air. "I can just relax out here after a long day."

_"Not to mention that we got the best view of the Girls Dorm!"_ Bart said. Davis looked at the dorm and it was true, but the unfortunate thing was, the Girls Bath was the one that's in Davis' full view and the Avenger Duelist groaned at this in dismay and narrowed his eyes at Bart.

"Really, Bart." Davis deadpanned. "Anyways, I need to get all of the stuff unpacked and then meet up with Zane for breakfast." So with that, Davis unpacked all of his clothes and other stuff, including his posters and arranged the room of how he liked it. After a few minutes of that, he left his room with his card key in tow and went downstairs to meet with Zane. When he got to the foyer, Zane was there waiting for him.

"All settled in?" Zane asked.

"Yep." Davis answered.

"Good. Follow me to the dining room."

* * *

As they walked they made small talk. They talked about mostly unsubstantial things like favorite things, pro duelist and Zane explained the rules to Davis.

"Now you must know that we are _never_ allowed in the girls' bath," Zane explained. "Each boy has their own showers."

"I could've guessed that." They continued to walk until they arrived to a dining room. The thing about it was that it looked a freakin' five star restaurant! There were lots of tables all covered with white table cloths. Each one had at least two chairs with plush blue padding and a small vase holding a single flower. The windows spanned the entire height of the room and were adorned with elegant blue drapes.

"Ho… ly… crap…" Davis gawked at the sight.

"You're really not used to this style of living aren't you?" Zane said.

"Nope." Davis said still gawking. "This place looks like a five star restaurant,"

"Sort of." Zane explained, "You basically sit down, they give you a menu, you order your food, and they bring it out to you. The only difference is you don't have to pay."

"Wow. What's the food like?"

"Read a menu." Zane grabbed a menu from a nearby pile and handed it to Davis. The cover was bound in blue leather and embossed with gold letters DA in cursive. Abbreviated for Duel Academy. He opened it and skimmed the items. His eyes widened at the selections they have.

"You guys… actually eat this stuff every day?"

"Pretty much. The menus change every week, but other than that, yes."

As he sat down, Davis was still in awe at the number of very fancy dishes that were available for the plucking. "Dude… we had a buffet at Ra Yellow but you guys have a full course meal," Davis gasped as he flipped through the seven page book. "One page is dedicated to just drinks too, including both Coca Cola _and_ Pepsi."

"Oh that's just the breakfast menu," Zane told him. "Wait till you see the lunch and dinner menu and they have those drinks too." Davis dropped his jaw.

"Is the Obelisk Blue life _this_ high class?"

"You could say that." Zane shrugged. "I wasn't used to it at first too."

"Really?"

"Syrus and I come from a middle class family, so when I first arrived in this dorm I had the exact same expression you had."

As they continued to talk, he didn't notice Rachel and Alexis come into the room. Spying Zane, the former's smile grew when she saw that Davis was sitting with their upperclassman. She immediately set a course and approached the pair, followed by Alexis.

"How's our new resident?" she asked.

"Bwuh?" Davis blinked, wiping his mouth for drool. Looking up, he saw a familiar female face. "Oh, hi Rach. You guys sure have it made up here don't you?"

"Well, as far as food and lodgings go," Alexis shrugged. "So Zane, where are you guys going next?"

"Some of the private sporting areas. The pool and tennis courts for starters," Zane replied.

"Doesn't the school have those already?" asked the Avenger Duelist.

"Yes, but these are for private use," the Kaiser replied. "They have a private cleaning crew and groundskeepers to keep them clean looking their best for anyone who wants to use them."

Davis gulped, but he managed to find his voice, "Holy crap. You guys know how to live it up don't you?"

"Welcome to Obelisk Blue," Zane smirked. "Now come on. The tour is continuing after we have breakfast."

"We'll join you," Alexis agreed and Rachel nodded as well.

So after having breakfast, which Davis' was smoked salmon with fried rice, four strips of turkey bacon, and a glass of apple juice, with Zane having the eggs benedict with a cup of coffee while Alexis and Rachel were having fresh herb and veggie frittata with tea, the group left, but Davis was sure some of the other male students in the room were glaring at his back as he left with the Kaiser and the unofficial school idols.

* * *

Zane, Rachel and Alexis then guided Davis to the private sporting areas as Zane said he would, showing the tennis court and swimming pool and he was impressed. But one thing that practically got him impressed the most was the outdoor hot springs. Altogether, it was the size of a swimming pool, but half of it was separated by a wooden frame, to separate the boys and girls. Continuing along the wall near the corner closest to the door that led to the outdoor hot spring was another door which led to a set of lockers lined up with some benches and more towels. These were for students to come in and leave their clothes while they enjoyed the hot springs.

"Oh man… this is unbelievable." Davis said.

"Courtesy of Dr. Crowler's bankbook," Rachel snickered. "The man's loaded even if he doesn't look it."

"Kinda… much for a dorm though, don't you think?" asked Davis.

"Most of the facilities were already here when Kaiba had the academy built," Zane explained. "It was supposed to help inspire the students to study and duel hard so they would be allowed to have these facilities all the time. Unfortunately, it's mostly been taken over by people who managed to buy the right cards or schmooze up to the right people."

"Ugh… those people I'll _never_ understand." Davis groaned. "Well, I guess it's up to us true Obelisks that we think otherwise."

"The old Obelisk Blue coup attempt eh?" Alexis grinned. "Well, we'll just have to see how that goes then."

"Best of luck," Zane shrugged. "I still have to show you where the teachers' offices for Obelisk Blue can be found if you ever need to try and find them."

"Sure." So with that, Alexis, Rachel, and Zane went out of the Obelisk Dorms and guided him to the offices for Obelisk Blue. They soon arrived at Dr. Crowler's office and knocked on the door. The door opened to see Dr. Crowler of course and… Chancellor Sheppard?

"Ah, Mr. Eitoku. I was just about to call you over to my office." Dr. Crowler greeted. "Come in. Come in." The four Obelisks went in the office. "I trust Mr. Truesdale was helpful in your tour of your new dorm?"

"Yes, he is." Davis said. "Rachel and Alexis was helpful too."

"I see."

"So how do you like Obelisk Blue so far?" Chancellor Sheppard asked.

"I'm impressed. I think it's still gonna be a few days before I can actually get used to it though." Davis chuckled embarrassedly.

"I'm sure you'll fit in just fine." Sheppard assured.

"So, anyways, I heard you wanted to talk about something Chancellor." Davis said.

"Ah, yes. Well, after reviewing your scores, I think you're qualified for an event that's about to come up."

"And that's…"

"One of the school duels…" Crowler said.

"School duels?"

"It's where Duel Academy and another school battle each other for bragging rights for the next year." The Chancellor Sheppard explained.

"...Go on..." Davis said.

"We'll be having a Singles and Tag Team division. The Singles division will be single elimination style and the Tag Team division will be in like manner, only tag team style obviously. The winner will win the grand prize, as opposed to a single trophy. And after reviewing your scores, I think you're qualified."

"Wow… so am I in the Singles or Tag Team division?" Davis asked.

"You will be in the Tag Team Division. But the thing is; another person is _also_ qualified for the spot; so were arranging a duel–off with the two of you. Winner will be in the tag duel and have a partner of their choosing."

"Cool! So who's my opponent?"

"An Obelisk Blue named Callen." Crowler said. "And from your previous duel with Mako, you should be formidable enough for an Obelisk."

"The duel will take place after classes; do you accept?" Sheppard asked.

"Sure!" Davis grinned.

"Then it's settled," Sheppard turned to Crowler. "Please tell Callen to report to the Main Arena after all classes."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"Thanks for showing me around my new dorm, you guys." Davis thanked as he, Rachel, Zane, and Alexis were walking through the hallways to get to class. "I really appreciated it."

"No problem." Alexis said.

"Anything for a fellow Obelisk." Rachel said as they now stopped at 4 way intersection.

"My class is this way, so I'll see you two later." Zane said as he went to the right and turned his heel around and left.

"And I have to meet up with Jasmine and Mindy. Take care!" Alexis said as she went the same direction.

Davis and Rachel waved off goodbye before they went in the opposite direction. As they were walking though…

"So… Rachel, I wanna ask ya something."

"What is it?"

"I was wondering… uh… when I win the duel–off… you wanna… partner up with me for the school duels?" Davis asked shyly.

"Partner with you?" Rachel blinked. At first it seemed like she would turn him down and Kurogasa was already chiding himself for asking so bluntly like he did. "Sure."

"Huh?"

"You go deaf?" Rachel laughed. "I said sure. I've seen how you duel. You'd beaten me twice. And we're friends anyway. Why _wouldn't_ I join up? Of course, that's if you can win the Duel Off."

"Don't worry, I'll win." Davis assured her. A few minutes later, they arrived at the classroom. When the doors opened up, everyone looked to see who came in. Most of the Obelisks who were most likely the rich and snobby ones glared at Davis. Most likely because he walked in with an unofficial school idol.

"Haters gonna hate." Davis chuckled nervously feeling unnerved.

"Just ignore them." Rachel advised as she went to her seat. Davis shrugged at this and then went over to his seat and in front of him was Jaden.

"Hey there Davis." Jaden greeted. "Looking spiffy in that new blazer."

"Thanks. Zane, Rachel and Alexis showed me around the dorm. And I gotta tell ya, it's unbelievable."

Suddenly, the doors opened and Syrus ran through the door straight to Jaden. "Jaden, Jaden, it's awful! He's gone!"

"Huh, who's gone?" Jaden asked.

"It's Chazz! He's gone!" Syrus replied. Immediately the class started murmuring.

_"Typical."_ Rocket scoffed as she appeared. _"He can't deal with his problems, so what he does he do? Run away like the coward he is."_

"…and that's awful _how_?" Jaden asked.

"Well…uh… gee, I don't know. Maybe it's because he's your big duel rival?"

"You're right!" Jaden gasped in realization. "I _do_ need my competition!"

"Hey you know what?" Torimaki said. "I saw Chazz packing his stuff last night."

"Know why? Because he lost to that Ra." Raizou said.

"Bastion right?"

"And that Slifer Slacker too."

"Yeah. He couldn't beat the ketchup and mustard team, so I say good riddance." Another Obelisk said.

"If you ask me, I'd say good riddance too." Davis said.

"A bit harsh there don't you think?" Syrus asked.

"Sorta, but mostly Chazz brought this upon himself. After all, he _did _try to cheat out of his way to win. His world is turning upside down because he can't accept the fact that his opponent was better than him. If he had half the resolve to be a great duelist, he probably wouldn't be in this mess or at least work to get back to where he was. But he's not all that. So what does he do? Run away from it. And if he can't man up for the actions he did, then he's just an excuse of a duelist who doesn't belong here and shouldn't even pick up a Deck to begin with."

"Well, when you put it _that _way…" Syrus nodded. He had tried to run away now and then, but when he faced up against his challenges he started to get into his groove as a duelist.

"Agreed," Bastion nodded. "None of us entered this school to coast through on laurels. We came here to become better duelists and prove ourselves. You have to be prepared to work hard or else you're going to flounder." He left it unsaid that Chazz was exactly the type to rest on his laurels having graduated from Duel Prep School with grades like his on top of his reputation in the tournament circuit.

"Jaden," Syrus said to his roommate. "I know Chazz has been a pain to us in the past, but what if he's in some serious danger? He might need our help!"

"You're right." Jaden said. "The right thing to do _would_ be to look for him."

"Yeah, so when should we go?"

"Right now. And besides, this is a great way to sneak out of class."

* * *

Jaden and Syrus had snuck out of the school by crawling through a hole in the wall. But as they got up and dusted themselves off. "You know, the school does have regular doors." The Slifers let out a scream. They were caught by Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy, Rachel and Davis.

"Oh, hey, Alexis," Jaden greeted, "We were just… uh… getting an early start on our homework."

"Yeah, right," Alexis said sarcastically. "You were going to look for Chazz and we're going to help you."

"Really? Since when do _you_ ditch class?" Jaden asked a bit baffled at this.

"Chazz is an Obelisk Blue and we look after our own."

"And I'm coming along because when we find him, I'm gonna knock some sense into that thick skull of his. Literally." Davis said bringing up a clenched fist.

* * *

And so the pair of Slifers and group of Obelisks went to search for Chazz around the island and so far there was no sign of him. It was continuing on for a half hour, until…

"That's it…" Alexis said, and then at the top of her voice. "CHAZZ, YOU LITTLE TOAD, YOU BETTER SHOW YOURSELF RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IF THIS IS A TRICK, YOU BETTER HOPE WE DON'T FIND YOU!" Her voice echoed through the trees, causing birds to leave out.

"Yeah, threatening him, that'll bring him out," Jaden said sarcastically.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason for Chazz disappearing." Jasmine said calmly.

"Yeah, like maybe he snuck out to get me some flowers," Mindy said, gushing. "My Chazz–y is so romantic."

"Chazz–y?" Davis asked raising an eyebrow sweat dropping.

"You like Chazz?" Rachel asked. "Last week, it was Bastion. Who's next, Little Syrus?"

"Well he _is_ kind of cute!" Mindy replied.

Suddenly, they heard something move… Alexis was the first to notice. "Shh…"

"What is it?" Jaden asked Alexis. Everyone noticed that she was staring intently at a bush.

"Something's moving," she said. Everyone followed her glance to see something rustling in the bushes.

"Chazz–y?"

"All right Chazz, game over, we found you," Davis said as they all walked towards the bush. Then all of a sudden, something leapt from the bush, scaring the group and plowed right into them, creating a scuffle for about a few seconds before running back into the woods. The group got up, after the 'brawl.'

"Not Chazz," Syrus said.

"Not human either." Alexis added.

"What _was_ that thing?" Mindy asked.

"He went this way!" The group of teens turned when three new faces came barreling out of the brush. One was a tall man in a black suit with glasses and black hair. Another was a non–descript man with a rifle in his arms and the last was a shorter old man with a gray beard and glasses of his own.

"Blast," the man in black frowned. "He's not here."

"Who _are_ those guys?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"Forget that! Where's Jasmine?!" Davis said all of a sudden. The group looked around and they noticed it was true. Jasmine has gone missing. They heard a scream at that point realized just what or rather who was taken from them.

"Up in the trees!" Jaden shouted pointing up as they saw… a monkey taking Jasmine, while leaping through the trees with Jasmine in its paws.

"It's what she always wanted," Mindy muttered. "Some guy sweeping her off her feet."

"Yeah, some guy, not some monkey," Rachel pointed out.

"What's going on?" Syrus wondered.

"Who cares, it's got Jasmine, we have to save her," Jaden said. The six kids took off.

* * *

Jasmine was frantically trying to tell the monkey to set her free to no avail, and it continued all the way to a cliff with a tree. After landing at the tree, Jasmine was hanging on to the primate for dear life! "Don't let me go!"

The men in the black suits caught up to them first. "Take aim and fire!" The short one commanded.

"Sir, I can't shoot him without harming the girl." The man with the rifle said. "As much we need that monkey back, harming a girl would put us in a lot of hot water." It was then that Jaden and the others arrived. With Jaden noticed that besides the weird helmet and harness.

"Hey, that monkey's wearing a Duel Disk! Either that, or a funny–looking banana!"

"That's no banana, or an ordinary monkey," The short old man said. "His name is Wheeler and he's a trained Duelist."

"A dueling monkey, no way!" Jaden said.

"Sir…" The man with the glasses whispered.

"Oh right… top secret." The short old man said.

"Somebody help me!" She cried.

"Wait, if he duels…" Jaden spoke up. "Let me duel him!"

"Duel him?" The short old man asked incredulously. "Can't you see we have a situation?"

"Uh, yeah, that's why I wanna duel him." Jaden said, stepping towards Wheeler. "You hear that Wheeler!? Let's throw down!" Wheeler cautiously started Jaden down, still carrying the Obelisk girl.

"Uh… Jaden, are you feeling okay?" Syrus asked.

"He's not sick, he's just gone crazy." Alexis said.

"Or in this case, gone bananas." Rachel joked.

"Hehehehehe...bananas cuz he's a monkey." Davis laughed at the pun.

"If I win, you let Jasmine go." Jaden said to the monkey. "If you win, we let you go."

"But where's does that leave me!?" Jasmine cried.

"Don't worry, he's not gonna win." Jaden assured her. "So what do you say, Wheeler?" The monkey looked at Jaden for a while before nodding.

"Wow. Gotta hand it to him, they are communicating." Syrus said as Wheeler set Jasmine towards the top of the tree than leapt onto a rock. It screeched as the Duel Disk flicked on.

"Wow, you really know how to work that thing," Jaden said activating his Duel Disk.

"I have a clear shot," The man with the gun said as he took aim.

"No, wait," the old man said. "This could be the field test we've been waiting for."

"All right, time to duel," Jaden announced.

**[Duel!]** Came a digitized voice from Wheeler's helmet.

"Whoa! The monkey talked!" Davis said flabbergasted. As was Syrus, Alexis, Rachel and Mindy.

"Please, that would be completely unrealistic," The old man said. "The helmet reads his mind and talks for him." Wheeler laughed, as far as the helmet went and both players drew their initial hands.

* * *

**Jaden:** 4000

**Wheeler:** 4000

"Here goes!" Jaden said, drawing his card. _'Sweetness. Just the card to grease this monkey.'_ "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in ATK Mode!" The electric hero appeared on the Field, ready to fight. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) "And I'll call it a turn! You saw my moves, now do yours." He turned to the others. "Get it, monkey see, monkey do?"

Everyone groaned at his pun.

**[My turn, my turn,]** Wheeler said. **[Draw.]** Through his helmet, he scanned the monster in front of him: [Berserk Gorilla, ATK: 2000, DEF: 1000, Level: 4, Recommend: Attack with this monster] **[Berserk Gorilla! Attack mode!]** Wheeler placed his card on the Field, and a large brown furred gorilla, with red eyes appear before him. (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000)

"What is he, family?" Jaden quipped. "Guess we now know who got the looks."

**[Berserk Gorilla attacks Sparkman!]** Wheeler let out some more screeches as Berserk Gorilla slugged Sparkman, destroying him in the process.

**Jaden:** 3600

**Wheeler:** 4000

**[Now, one card face down! Face down!]** Wheeler said as a reverse card appeared on the Field. **[Monkey see, monkey duel! Better!** **I make monkey out of you! You! You!]** Wheeler taunted as Jaden groaned.

"Aw man… Jaden's losing the duel." Syrus groaned.

"And he's losing his cool. How could you now? I mean, after all he _is_ getting beat by a monkey." Davis stated.

"Aw c'mon, gimme a break." Jaden said before turning back to face Jaden. "The duel's just started and it's about to heat up! Watch this!" He drew his next card and looked at it. "Perfect! I play Polymerization to fuse Elemental Hero Avian and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix to form…" The two mention heroes, combined making… "The Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" (6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200) "Now attack that Gorilla with Skydive Scorcher!" Flame Wingman took off to the skies and then dropped doing its signature move, destroying the big gorilla.

**Jaden:** 3600

**Wheeler:** 3900

"Now, for its super power, you lose Life Points equal to the destroyed monster's ATK due to Wingman's effect!" The hero flew up to Wheeler, blasting flames from the dragon hand making Wheeler screech in horror.

**Jaden:** 3600

**Wheeler:** 1900

"I'm the man!" Jaden cheered, but saw Wheeler sitting down, looking depressed. "You calling it quits, already?"

"Awesome, Wheeler lost 2000 Life Points!" Syrus said. "Good for us!"

"Yeah, not so much for our furry little friend," Alexis commented.

"Does that mean he's giving up?" Mindy asked.

"Oh please," The old man said. "He just made one mistake, that's all. Back at the lab, if he made one mistake, we would punish him for it." The kids gasped. "No, he won't make mistakes again, he'll just get better."

"Top secret, sir." One of the suits whispered to him.

"Oh right, never mind…"

_'So they're doing animal testing here on this island?'_ Davis growled in his thoughts. _'That's just inhumane!'_

"Hey Wheeler, are you giving up?" Jaden asked again.

**[Never surrender, never surrender!]** Wheeler screeched as he drew his next card. [Acrobat Monkey, Level 4, ATK: 1000, DEF: 1800] Wheeler looked at his Hand or… paw… or y'know what? Just watch the Duel. [Recommend: Combination with other cards to win battle.]

"Then looks like its game on," Jaden said.

**[I summon Acrobat Monkey!]** Wheeler summoned a blue metallic monkey that flipped around. (4/ATK: 1000/DEF:1800) **[Now, I activate **_**my**_** face down! Trap, trap, DNA Surgery!]**

"DNA Surgery?!" Jaden gasped. "That turns every Monster on the Field into whatever Type that monkey chooses!"

**[I choose Beast–type, Beast–type!]** Flame Wingman turned into a wolf with the same appearance and Acrobat Monkey looked like a real monkey wearing armor. **[Now I play Wild Nature's Release!]**

"That's not good…" Rachel grimaced. "Wild Nature's Release increases the ATK points of one Beast–type or Beast–Warrior type Monster on the Field by the value of its DEF points!"

"And it looks bad for Jaden," Syrus said.

**[Acrobat Monkey, power up, power up!]** Wheeler ordered. Acrobat Monkey, flexed its muscles, shedding its armor until it was only wearing its helmet.

Acrobat Monkey (4/ATK: 1000–2800/DEF: 1800)

**[Go, Acrobat Monkey! Attack Wingman with Somersault Smash!]** In a spinning somersault, Acrobat Monkey tackled the Wingman, destroying it.

**Jaden:** 2900

**Wheeler:** 1900

After the attack, Acrobat Monkey held its head in pain before it shattered.

"What… just happened?" Syrus asked.

"When Wild Nature's Release is used on a Monster, that Monster is destroyed at the turn's end," Alexis explained.

**[Your turn! Your turn!]** Wheeler declared.

"Alright, my draw!" Jaden said, but was interrupted by some more monkey noises. He thought it was Wheeler, until he looked over to side, with some rocks nearby. He gasped. "Guys, look over there!" Hiding behind the rocks was a group of about a dozen monkeys.

"Uh–oh, more monkeys!" Syrus said.

"There must be a whole tribe of them!" Mindy added.

"I think the correct term is troop." Davis corrected.

Winged Kuriboh's spirit came out and let out a series of coos and Jaden turned to look at Wheeler. "Is that why you escaped, Wheeler, to get back to your family?"

Wheeler nodded, **[Must win! Miss friends, miss family!]** He said.

"I was afraid of this…" Davis gritted his teeth. "If Jaden wins, we save Jasmine, but Wheeler goes back to the lab. But if Wheeler wins, it goes free to its friends, and we can't save Jasmine. Damn it!"

"Wheeler, I know you want to be free." Jaden said, solemnly. "But I made a promise that I would rescue Jasmine by beating you in a duel, so I'll have to play Elemental Hero Clayman in Attack Mode!" The bulky rock hero appeared. (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 2000)

**[Don't forget, don't forget, DNA Surgery! Clayman turns into a Beast–type!]** Wheeler interrupted as the Hero became a bear–looking creature with Clayman's armor.

"Fine with me; but it doesn't stop me from playing the Spell Card, Courageous Charge!" Jaden held up a spell showing a rocket about to go on a collision with a big meteor. "And here how it goes down! First I pay 1000 Life points…"

**Jaden:** 1900

**Wheeler:** 1900

"Then I'll choose a monster with 1000 ATK points or less, like Clayman and let him attack!" The beast threw a transparent right hand to Wheeler.

**Jaden:** 1900

**Wheeler:** 1100

"Now since I chose him for Courageous Charge, you also take damage from Clayman's DEF Points!" Wheeler lay down on the ground, knowing it was over for him.

**Jaden:** 1900

**Wheeler:** 0

* * *

Wheeler's helmet showed a picture of a sad monkey with the word "LOSE" over it. "That's game," Jaden cheered. "So time to release Jasmine."

Wheeler picked Jasmine off the tree and put her on the ground. Jasmine got up and ran to the others where she was met in an embrace by Alexis and Mindy. She then turned to Jaden. "Thanks for saving me."

"No problem!" Jaden replied.

"What about Wheeler?" Mindy asked. They turned and stared at the monkey, who was looking like he lost his best friend.

"I know it kidnapped me, but even I think it deserves more than being somebody's needle poking experiment." Jasmine added.

"All right, you flee–ridden failure," The man with the gun said. "Let's go."

"Hold on," Davis called. "Wheeler doesn't belong with you; he belongs out here with his family."

"You know what?" The old man said. "The boy has a point: Wheeler _does_ belong with his family. So we'll just take all of them!" Immediately he and the other man took out guns and aimed them at the monkeys.

But then a pitter patter of little feet preceded a pudgy cat which leapt up on the men and made them all fall into each other. "Pharaoh!?" The kids gasped at the animal who single handedly stop the guns.

"Tsk, tsk Pharaoh. Naughty kitty!" Everyone turned to see a familiar teacher with long hair and bifocals. "You'll have to forgive Pharaoh, he's gets testy when animals… and humans… are threatened."

"Professor Banner!"

"Who are you?!" The old man asked as if he didn't hear what the kids were saying.

"Oh just your average teacher, Duelist… animal lover, if you catch my drift." Still holding Pharaoh, and then kicked the dropped gun over the edge before turning back to the men. The men growled at this… they have no hope of winning this one.

* * *

After the men left, the kids removed the armor from Wheeler until all he was wearing was the Duel Disk. The humans watched as Wheeler was reunited with the other monkeys. "It's like a family reunion," Syrus commented.

"Hey Wheeler, let's duel again sometime," Jaden called out. Wheeler let out some more monkey sounds while waving. Jaden did his trademark pose. "Me too, it was a super fun match."

"Uh… Jaden, his talking helmet is gone, you know." Syrus commented.

"That was a close one," Mindy said. "If the Professor hadn't showed up, Wheeler would be dead meat."

"How'd you find us, Professor?" Rachel asked.

"Like I said, I love animals," Banner explained. "Plus it wasn't so hard with a cat who can track as well as Pharaoh."

"But why were you looking for us?" Davis asked.

"Well, children, I wanted to tell you that Chazz is okay."

The kids smiled, "That's great news," Jaden said.

"Yes, but… there is some bad news as well, follow me please." Banner led them down to the dock. "You see, Pharaoh tracked him down here, but the time I came here, Chazz was already on his family's personal yacht."

"Well that's a shame," Jaden said.

"He _did_ make things interesting." Syrus said.

"My Chazz–y," Mindy sighed. The others sighed too but for a different reason.

"Hey cheer up everybody," Jaden said. "I'm sure he'll be back again someday, after all good rivals are hard to find."

"And you know what isn't _hard_ to find? Class." Banner interrupted. "And since you six cut class early today, we have some making up to do." The kids groaned at that. "But first, you, Davis, will have to get to your duel–off with Callen."

"Oh snap! You're right!" Davis realized. "And it starts after classes are done! I completely forgot about that!"

"Well if you hurry you can make it," Banner chuckled. "So you'd better move."

"Right! Gotta go guys!" Davisbegan to run. "Remember our deal Rachel!"

"What _kind_ of deal?" Alexis asked Rachel with a mischievous grin.

"It's nothing!" Rachel flushed. "We just made a deal that if he won the Duel–Off I'd be his partner in the Tag Team tournament."

"Are you sure it's not something _more_?" Mindy teased all the while.

"W–Why _would_ it be?" Rachel stuttered. She may as well let blood into the water for the sharks for what that stutter meant to Mindy.

"Oh, I don't know," Mindy giggled. "Maybe it's because as far as we know he gets all goofy around you. Remember when we first saw him? He couldn't take his eyes off you. He also tries so hard to be casual when you hang out with him."

"I think Mindy's onto something," Jasmine began to grin. "You know, you two don't make a bad pair. I mean, you use all those beautiful and cute Harpie Ladies cards. He's got those tough Avengers. You're both Obelisk Blue. He's smart, humble, and not afraid to make his opinion."

Rachel's face turned rosy red.

At the sidelines, Jaden and Syrus were watching with no small amount of amusement. Although, Syrus was more amused on the fact that he now knew something that he could tease Davis about since the new Obelisk Blue would bring up that trip to the girls dorm from time to time. Jaden on the other hand was just amused at seeing Rachel get so flustered over something. Relationships weren't really something he put too much thought into aside from friendship.

"All right children, that is enough." Professor Banner said. "Let's just head to the arena." Rachel sighed in relief at the save Banner made and the group went over.

* * *

Meanwhile…

At the Main Arena, the rest of the students and all faculty were waiting for Kurogasa and Crowler and Sheppard and Callen, who was a tall guy with messy brown hair were waiting for Davis.

"What's taking him so long?" Crowler asked getting a bit impatient.

"Relax, Crowler. I'm sure he'll be here soon." Sheppard assured him.

Another five minutes later…

"I'M HERE!" A voice yelled. The two faculty at the platform looked to an entrance and saw Davis running towards them, but then he suddenly tripped forward and was falling, but thinking quickly, he used to momentum of the fall to do an impromptu series of flipping forward with his whole body to reach the platform. He wobbled it at his landing, but still stood.

"Well… that happened." Bastion blinked.

"Yeah, but that was lishus though on he entered." Chumley said.

"Nice entrance," Crowler quipped, ignoring the applause front he other students.

"I do what I can," Davis panted.

"Well, now that our other participant is here, it's time to start the Duel–Off!" Sheppard announced with the crowd cheering Jaden and company soon arrived as well.

"Awesome! Just in time!" Jaden said.

"And it's about to start too." Syrus said. "Thank goodness."

"This match is for being the representative in the upcoming tag–team duel portion of the School Duel!" Crowler announced. "From the Obelisk Blue Dorm, Callen Crawford!" The crowd cheered. "And also from the Obelisk Blue Dorm, the newly instated Davis Eitoku!" The crowd cheered and even Jaden and the rest of the group cheered as well. "Alright duelists, shuffle each other's decks." The two duelists met up in the middle giving each other's deck and shuffling them.

"So you're the newly instated Obelisk Blue huh?" Callen scoffed. "This should be easier than I thought…"

"What makes you say that?" Davis asked.

"You think you stand a chance at the School Duel? I'd say you don't. You wouldn't last a few turns in that event. You were a Ra Yellow once. And like all Ra Yellows and Slifer Reds, they're weak. Which makes you weak. And I'll beat you for the weakling you are."

"Well then, I guess I'll have to prove you wrong." Davis said narrowing his eyes.

"Alright gentlemen, exchange back your decks." Crowler said. Both duelists gave the other's decks back and went to their respective sides."

"Mr. Eitoku, you'll have the first turn! Now duelist, GO!" He said as he went off the platform with Sheppard following.

Davis placed his Deck into the Duel Disk and it went from standby to active. Both players drew the starting Hand.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Davis:** 4000

**Callen:** 4000

"You heard Crowler, I'm going first!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Ben 10 in ATK mode!" The teenage wielder of the Omnitrix appeared (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500). . "Next I activate his special ability to return him into my Deck to bring out an "Omnitrix" monster in his place! And I choose Swampfire!" As he placed that card, Ben searched and found the said alien in the Omnitrix. Once he pressed it, a bright green flash engulfed him, and a plantlike being with a head shaped like fire appeared in his place (6/ATK: 2500/DEF: 1600).

_"Awesome!"_ Ben (as Swampfire) shouted.

"Then I'll throw down a facedown and that's it from me!" Davis said signaling the end of his turn.

"That's all you're gonna do? Heh. Pathetic, watch this move!" Callen declared drawing his sixth card. "I play the Spell Card, Fiend's Sanctuary to summon a Metal Fiend Token!" A fiend like statue appeared on the Field (1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0). "Now I tribute my Metal Fiend Token in order to summon Zaborg, the Thunder Monarch!" a lightning bolt struck the fiend statue destroying into nothing. The thunder then fizzled out to reveal a man in white armor, green helmet and a yellow highlander kilt. He created thunderbolt in his hands (5/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1000)

"A Monarch!?" Rachel shouted.

"Not lishus…" Chumley groaned.

"Indeed. Monarchs are a very powerful Archetype when used the right way." Bastion stated.

"Now I activate its special ability! When Zaborg's Tribute Summoned, I can automatically destroy a monster, like that monster of your!" The thunder monarch charged up and raised his arms to the skies summoning a thunder cloud to destroy Swampfire. "Now you're defenseless, Electric Judgment!" Zaborg then gathered up lightning in fist and fired at Davis.

"RRAAAGGH!" Davis yelled as he was shocked.

**Davis:** 1600

**Callen:** 4000

"Oh man… the duel's only started and Davis is already way behind." Syrus said in dismay.

"Relax Sy, like you said; the duel's only just started." Jaden assured. "Davis' gonna win this. I _know _he will."

"I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn." Callen concluded placing two reverse cards on the Field.

"Urgh…" Davis grunted as he shook off the shock. "Okay, you got me right there," He said as he drew his next card, "But it's going to be short lived! First I play the Spell Card, Cold Wave!"

"Good. That prevents Callen from activating or setting any Spells or Traps until Davis' next turn." Banner stated.

"Since you destroyed an "Omnitrix" monster, Ben 10 comes back!" Davis said as Ben 10 reappeared on the field. "Now I'll activate his ability again, this time bringing out a new "Omnitrix"monster to the field, so I'm summoning NRG!" He said as he placed his initial form in the Deck and replaced it with his new form. Ben pressed the Omnitrix, triggering his transformation into what seems to be a steampunk suit of armor (6/ATK: 2350/DEF: 1600).

_"Uhhh...Davis? I don't think I face that guy in this form." _Ben (as NRG) stated.

"You won't have to, Ben." Davis said."Because I summon Stinger in ATK mode!" The insect-themed heroine appeared (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200). _"Ready to fight, Davis!"_ Cassie said, being ready to go.

"And now I'll sacrifice Stinger in order to Special Summon Stature from my Hand!" Cassie's suit changed into a different design with the black on her suit replaced with white and the mask disappeared as she grew a few feet taller (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1700).

"Alright Stature attack Zaborg!" Davis commanded.

"Are you an idiot?" Callen taunted. "She'll be destroyed!"

"Wrong, because when Stingeris in her Stature Form, when she battles a Monster, she gainss 1000 ATK!"

"What?!" Callen roared as Cassie grew bigger.

Stature (6/ATK: 2200–3200/DEF: 1700)

"Now go!"

_"Got it!"_ Stature said before charging toward the electric monarch. "_Let's do this!"_ She said before at the monarch unleashing a powerful punch at the monarch, destroying him into pixels.

**Davis:** 1600

**Callen:** 3200

"Now it's NRG's turn! Go!" Davis declared.

_"Alright! Time for payback!" _Ben shouted as he sent a heat vision from his helmet straight to Callen, causing the latter to flinch.

**Davis:** 1600

**Callen:** 850

"And I'll end my turn there." Davis grinned.

"Sweet move bro!" Jaden cheered.

"Way to play!" Syrus said.

"Lishus!" Chumley added.

"Good show!" Bastion praised.

"Go get 'em Davis!" Rachel cheered.

"Nice job!" Alexis said.

"Grr… you'll pay for that!" Callen growled as he drew his next card. "I summon Reborn Tengu in DEF mode and end my turn!" An old bearded man in robes with a pair of crow wings on his back appeared, knelt on one knee and crossed his arms. (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 600)

"Running scared are we?" Davis smirked as he drew his next card. "Alright Ben, attack Reborn Tengu!"

_"Gotcha!"_ Ben said as the same event of the attack last turn happened, only Reborn Tengu was destroyed.

"HA! You activated its special ability! When Reborn Tengu's is removed from the Field, I can summon another one from my Deck!" Callen said as he took out his Deck, searched it and a carbon copy of the same Monster was destroyed (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 600).

"And I bet you that he'll use that Reborn Tengu to summon another Monarch." Bastion said.

"No matter. I'll attack again with Stature!" The same thing happened again, only when Stature destroyed the Tengu, another took its place (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 600).

"I Set one Monster in DEF mode, place a facedown, and call it a turn." Davis concluded as he placed a facedown Monster and a facedown card.

"My move!" Callen declared as he drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards!" Callen drew two. And now I Sacrifice Reborn Tengu to Summon Granmarg the Rock Monarch!" The tengu disappeared and a tan armored warrior with blue banners on his legs appeared (6/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1000) "And once summoned, he can take out a facedown card! And I'll destroy one of my own!"

"Huh? Why'd he do that?" Jasmine wondered.

"How should _I_ know?" Mindy shrugged.

"The facedown card I destroyed was Dormant Volcano which activates the effect. When this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, I inflict 300 damage to you. Then, during my next Standby Phase, both of us add 1 FIRE monster from our Decks to our Hands." Davis glowed a red aura to translate as Damage.

**Davis:** 1300

**Callen:** 850

"Now I play Double Summon to summon once more! I sacrifice Granmarg and Summon Mobius the Frost Monarch!" A freezing wind came in, as the unsuspecting Monarch was destroyed by a rising ice pillar and from it a white armored man with a blue cape appeared. (6/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1000) "And like Granmarg, he can destroy a facedown, only this time it destroys set Spell and Traps, times two!"

"Oh man, that means he can destroy Davis' facedown card!" Rachel realized.

"I'll destroy your facedown and mine as well!" Mobius summoned up a blizzard and destroyed Davis' facedown and Callen's facedown. "And the facedown I had was Dark Coffin. When it's sent to the Graveyard, you wither discard a card from your Hand or destroy one of your Monsters."

_'I can't destroy Ben, Cassie or Maxine that's facedown.'_ Davis thought. He then chooses to discard one card.

"So you chose to discard huh? Not that it matters, because your hunk of junk will be destroyed by my Monarch! Now I play the Spell Card, Shrink and I'll cut your NRG's ATK in half!"

NRG then started to shrink as he was now half his height. _"Hey!"_ Ben shouted.

NRG (6/ATK: 2350–1175/DEF: 1600)

"Now Mobius attack NRG!" Callen ordered. Mobius created an ice lance from his hand and threw it NRG, piercing him and destroying him...or so it seems. In NRG's place was some sort of plasmalike being in some sort of green suit with the Omnitrix symbol on its belt. NRG is in its true form (6/ATK: 2350–2850/DEF: 1600-2100)

**Davis:** 75

**Callen:** 850

"What?!" His friends were outstanded by that form.

"When NRG is destroyed, he comes back not only like this, but with 500 extra ATK/DEF!" Davis explained.

"NO! There's no way I'll lose to you! I'll make you give up! You'll never be an true Obelisk like me!" Callen sneered.

"You're right. I'll never be an Obelisk like you…" Davis muttered darkly. "Obelisks like _you_ only care about being superior, rich, and powerful. You only care crushing those beneath you and getting rare cards flaunting it around as you please. That's what an Obelisk should _not_ do. A _true _Obelisk respects his or her fellow students whether it is an equal or someone beneath him or her! A _true_ Obelisk plays the game like any other duelist and they strive to become better with each duel _with_ his or her fellow student. And a _true _Obelisk like me, Zane, Rachel, and Alexis, will never lose to the likes of people like you!" Callen growled at this.

"Well said." Zane said.

"You show 'em Davis!" Rachel cheered.

"Now it's my turn!" Davis declared drawing his next card. He smirked at what he got.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"What?!" Callen roared. The audience is in oohs and aahs on that. Everyone knew what that meant.

"Yeah! He called it! Callen's done!" Jaden cheered.

"I play Card of Demise! This lets me draw until I have 5 cards, and I lose my entire Hand on my 5th Standby Phase!" He drew until he had five. "Now I summon Bartman OOO in ATK mode!" A silhouette of a man appeared with the OOO Driver and inserted the coins in the driver before scanning them with the scanner. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The images of the three coins, hawk, tiger, and grasshopper formed together into one, moving towards the silhouetted man's chest creating armor and creating OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000). "And next I'll play OOO Roulette! I roll a die and whatever number it lands on, OOO gets a new form! Go, dice roll!" A huge white die appeared and rolled to the ground for a few seconds until it landed on a 5. "Awesome! A five! Now I'll summon Bartman OOO – ShaUTa Form from my Deck!" Bart switched the three coins with three blue ones. One of a killer whale, the second, an electric eel, and the third, an octopus. He inserted the three in the OOO Driver and scanned them.

**KILLER WHALE! E****EL! ****OCTOPUS! SHAUTA!**

**SHA–SHA–SHAUTA! SHA–SHA–SHAUTA!**

The three images of the killer whale, electric eel, and octopus appeared in a column and formed into one, and moved back to OOO's chest. Bart started to turn all blue as his helmet now donned a blue helmet with yellow eyes, white lightning bolts under those eyes, small fins on either side of his jaw, and a black faceplate. The top part of the helmet was pointed forwards and there was a fin on top. His arms were decorated with blue and had large fins on the shoulders which had white cords running down behind his arms and into the blue wristbands he wore. And his legs were complete covered up to his thighs with bright blue armor which appeared to be similar to octopus tentacles lined side by side with the suction cups pointing out (7/ATK: 2450/DEF: 2100)

**BGM: Shout Out**

"Now I'll attack Mobius! Go Octo Banish Rider Kick!"

OOO liquefies his lower body to propel himself upward, then he used the Eely Whips to drag Mobius upward while OOO goes back down using the Octo Legs to form a drill.

_"SEE–YAAAAA!"_ Bart yelled as he burst through his opponent destroying Mobius into pixels.

**Davis:** 75

**Callen:** 800

"NRG, finish this." Davis grinned. With a plasma blast from NRG, the Duel was over.

**Davis:** 75

**Callen:** 0

**BGM Ends**

* * *

The crowd cheered as the holograms went away.

"The winner: Davis Eitoku!" Crowler announced.

"Yes! He won!" Jaden cheered.

"Way to play!" Syrus cheered.

"Good show ol' chap!" Bastion smiled.

"That was a lishus duel!" Chumley said.

"Sure is." Rachel smiled.

"Davis…" The Chancellor stepped up to him and patted him on the back. "Fine work, my boy. You are now our tag–team representative of the School Duel; all that's left is to choose your partner."

"Taken care of; Rachel Figueroa." Davis responded.

"Then we hope to see both of you in top form after the winter." Sheppard said.

"You got it!" Davis then looked up to the stands where his friends were cheering. He looked at Alexis and gave her a thumbs up, which see returned with a smile. But meanwhile… Callen was still seething from the loss and looked at Davis angrily…

"I should've won that one. It should be _me_ representing Duel Academy… I'm going to make him pay." Callen growled.

* * *

The sun just set and it was now night time. Curfew was at 10:00 P.M., but right now it's only 8:00 P.M., so there was time for relaxation. After the duel off to see who would be in the Tag Division, Kurogasa set off to the outdoor hot springs for relaxation. After getting out of his clothes, he has nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist to hide his well… you get the idea. He came out the locker room area and as of now, he's the only one occupying the outdoor hot spring. He went to the boys' half and went in the warm and content water with his back on the edge of the pool, facing the wooden border and his arms spread out on the edge of the pool.

"Ahhhh… Man, what a day. After a hard fought duel, nothing beats relaxation in the hot spring." Davis sighed in content. Suddenly all of the Avengers appeared, most out of costume and enjoying themselves in the hot spring. Davis, who expected them to at least appear armored, nearly shouted in surprise. "What the hell!?"

_"Oh this feels so good,"_ Cassie sighed as she leaned back. _"It heals the aching muscles."_

_"This feels better than my own bath,"_ Felecia complimented the waters as she dipped her head in. Off to the side Pikachu was sighing as well.

_"Man, I wish I had this sort of bath,"_ Bart smiled.

Davis and the Spirits stayed in the hot springs soaking for a good hour or so. At that time, the door to the outdoor hot spring suddenly opened up and it revealed to be a female with a towel wrapped around her body. It was… Rachel?! At this all the Avengers disappeared except for Bart who was late at the moment.

Davis was so stunned he couldn't say anything at first. He knew for a fact that he had gone into the boys side of the hot spring so what was Rachel doing on _this_ side? He couldn't help but stare as the blonde slipped into the water, her towel beginning to get wet and cling to her body in very interesting ways.

_"Oh (bleep)! I didn't do it! Nobody saw me do it! Can't prove anything!__"_ Bart spoke as he ran for his life before disappearing.

"GCK!" Davis choked, finally managing to find his voice.

Rachel heard the noise and looked to the source, spying Davis. She blinked before she turned as bright as a cherry before clutching her towel to her body to try and protect her chastity. "DAVIS?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THE GIRLS SIDE!?"

"G–Girls side?" Davis sputtered. "This is the _boys'_ side! I saw the sign and everything!"

"Boys' side?" Davis gaped. "The right side is _always_ the girls' side! And stop staring!"

"Sorry!" the Avenger Duelist gulped and turned away. "I saw the sign though. The blue figure without a skirt means the boys' side, right? It was on the right side so I went into the door next to it! Honest!"

"What?" Rachel blinked. Frowning, she got out of the water and tried to keep her towel from showing off too much. "Wait here so I can get some clothes on and then follow me in a few minutes."

* * *

About ten minutes later, Davis followed after his friend and got dressed. Stepping out of the locker room, he found Rachel scowling at the sign to the room with extreme distaste. Coming out, Davis spotted the sign he used to discern which gender went to which room. At first the sign looked like a regular boys' sign, but then the corner of the sign fell, having been attached by strips of tape. Behind it was the pink stick figure in a dress.

"Oh come on!" Kurogasa groaned.

"Someone's stupid idea of a joke!" Rachel hissed. "And when I find out who, there's going to be some ball–busting!"

"But who _would_?" asked Davis. "I mean, I'd understand if it's hazing since I transferred in but this is a little much."

"Definitely," Rachel nodded. "Either this is some prankster's idea or someone specifically targeted one or both of us!"

"Go report this to Miss Fontaine. I'll find that son of a bitch."

"Save a piece for me," Rachel huffed as she turned to leave. Davis turned around in the other direction and left. He first went back to his room to get his Duel Disk and after that went back outside. As soon as he was out of the dorm, His Spirits appeared. "Everyone the prankster is around here somewhere. Spread out and find him. He couldn't have gone too far." The Avengers nodded and spread out. Cyclone, Nova, and Rocket took to the air and Pikachu and Ben (as XLR8) used their speed to cover more ground.

After a good five minutes, Laura appeared. "_Davis, I got his scent. He's coming this way_." Davis nodded as he braced himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. He quickly turned around and saw a figure. "Hey!" The figure then noticed and then started to bolt off. "Stop right there!" He then ran after him.

The chase continued on for a while until it led to inside the dorm in the foyer. "Alright, that's as far as you go, you bastard!" Davis shouted. The figure turned around and it revealed to be…

"Callen?! It was you?" Davis asked shocked.

"Yeah, that's me alright. I did it so you wouldn't be in the Tag Team Tournament! You just got lucky! It should be _me _that should be in it! I deserve it!"

"Well, sorry, but your plan failed. Now turn yourself in!"

"You're gonna have to duel me first!" Callen said as he took his duel disk and deck.

"Heh. Fine by me." Davis said taking out his disk and taking his deck out of his deck box then placed the deck in the disk and activated. Callen did the same thing and both drew their starting hand.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Callen:** 4000

**Davis:** 4000

"I'll start!" Callen said drawing his sixth card. "I play Cost Down to discard one card from my Hand to lower all the Monster's level in my Hand by 2." He did as the card as the card instructed. "And now I summon Kuraz the Light Monarch in ATK mode! A golden armor knight appeared shining with radiance and brilliance in all its glory (6–4/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1000). "Then I'll play Quick Rush meaning I can bypass the first turn rule! Go Kuraz! Attack his Life Points with Excalibur's Light!" Callen commanded. Kuraz took out his golden sword and shot a beam of light of Kurogasa making the latter grunt.

**Callen:** 4000

**Davis:** 1600

"And I'll end there."

Davis stood his ground as he said, "Then it's my move!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. He looked at his Hand and gawked at what he got. But then calmed himself down to smirk at Callen.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

******BGM: UP UP UP by Rose Falcon**

"What?! Already?!" Callen asked in disbelief.

"Yep. I don't believe it either, but I ain't complaining! I play Dark Hole to destroy Kuraz!" A black hole appeared and sucked up the Golden Warrior. "Then I summon Wild Thing in ATK mode!" The feral mutant appeared, claws out and growling for battle (4/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1400). "Then I'll play the card I drew!" Davis said as he showed the card. "Megamorph!"

"NO!" Callen cried out in horror.

"That's right. So now Wild Thing's ATK is doubled since my Life Points are lower!"

Wild Thing (4/ATK: 2100-4200/DEF: 1400)

"Finish it Laura!"

_"You got it…"_ Laura said as she charged at Callen and slashed at him as his Life Points depleted.

**Callen:** 0

**Davis:** 1600

**BGM Ends**

* * *

"That was easy," Davis sighed, shutting his disk down.

"Davis!" A voice called. Davis turned around to see Rachel, Miss Fontaine, and two Campus Security guards running towards him.

"Yo."

"You caught the prankster?" Rachel asked.

"Yep. It turned out to be Callen." Rachel, Miss Fontaine, and the two campus guards turned to see the defeated Callen on his knees. "He tried to get revenge on me about the Duel–Off for the Tag Team Tournament, but I beat him. Kinda lame of an excuse to be pulling a prank if ya ask me."

"No kidding." Rachel agreed.

"We'll take it from here. Good job you two." Miss Fontaine praised. So with that, Miss Fontaine and the two campus guards went to Callen and took him away.

"Well, I'm glad that's over." Davis sighed.

"Yeah, me too." Rachel said.

"So, I think it's time we hit the hot springs again, but this time we go to our respective sides finally."

"I like the sound of that."

* * *

So the two went over to the hot springs yet again, but this time, Davis was now on the left side, the _true_ boys' side of the hot spring and Rachel was on the girls' side. Both had their towels wrapped around their respective places to hide their modesty and both were on the edge of the pools with their backs facing the wooden border.

"It's more relaxing now that I know that I'm not going to get walked in on or have people gunning for me," Davis commented.

"Totally," Rachel agreed, easily able to hear him from her side. "Though I bet you enjoyed the view while it lasted."

Davis flushed bright red, "A gentleman doesn't take advantage of a lady."

"True, but you _did_ still enjoyed it didn't you?" She teased again.

"I'm nothing like that!" Rachel's laugh echoed far too loudly in Davis' opinion. Grumbling, he sank into the water to try and hide his blush as simply a result of the heat the water brought.

"It's fine though," Rachel continued. "It was an accident. Besides, it's not like you saw me naked."

_'Boy what a sight _that_ would've been though.'_ Davis thought to himself treacherously.

"And I can tell that you're not that type of person. You're considerate enough and I trust you."

"Uh… thanks…" Davis said.

After another good thirty minutes of soaking in the hot spring, Davis decided it was time to leave. "Alrighty, I better get going. Curfew's about to come up soon. I'll see you later Rach."

"Later." Rachel said from the other side. Davis then got out of the water, but as soon as he stepped on the smooth flat stony edge of the floor, he slipped.

"Uwhoaaa!" Davis yelled as he fell back to the wooden border hitting three planks that were connected together. As soon as his back hit, those same three planks that were connected together, for some unexplained reason flipped over and cause Davis to fall in the girls' side of the bath making a huge splash in the water. Seconds later, Davis' head popped up out of the water. "Owwww, that really hurt…" Davis groaned, when he rubbed the back of his head, but when he opened his eyes, he wished he shouldn't have; because now, he turned bright red at seeing Rachel who was now naked. And at that point, his nose started bleeding.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Rachel yelled as she dived into the water to cover her body. "Get out of here!"

"I'm sorry! I'm out of here!" Davis yelled frantically as he got out of the water and out of the outdoor hot springs. But not before tripping and falling and getting back up along the way. "D'oh!"

* * *

A couple minutes later of drying off quickly, cleaning up his bloody nose, and changing into his clothes, Davis bolted for his room. He didn't stop until he arrived at his room. Taking his card key, he opened his door, went in quickly, and slammed the door. Then with his back on the door he slid down to sit. His Spirits appeared back in their armor seeing Davis, downright mortified.

_"I see things gotten well,"_ Felecia commented. _"Got to say, I would hook up with someone that hot."_

_"I agree,"_ Marceline nodded.

_"Shut up__!"_ Davis and Bart bellowed the former blushing really heavily.

_"Sooooooo…...what just happened?" _Luffy mumbled. He doesn't know anything where babies come from or even what sex is.

_"Wow…"_ Zane trembled, the image burned into his mind.

_"Kids these days,"_ Rocket shook her head. _"Raging hormones and nothing else."_

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"AH!" Davis yelped jumping up to stand up straight. "W–Who is it?"

"It's Rachel."

"Oh (bleep)!" Davis muttered quietly to himself. Davis steeled himself for a moment and slowly opened the door, expecting a boom-boom-bye-bye-punchface to be greeting him in all honesty. But when he opened the door, it didn't happen. There was Rachel standing at the door with her clothes on, with a stoic look on her face. "Uh… hi… Rach."

"Care to explain what happened?" she asked. "Did you _not_ get a good enough look the last time?"

"I tripped and fell!" Davis claimed. "Honest! The rocks are slippery in there! I thought I'd hit my head on the barrier, not fall right _through_ it! Who the heck built it to be so flimsy anyway?" Davis then looked away from Rachel as he was blushing heavily and feeling extremely uncomfortable. "Look, I told you before, I'm nothing like that. I'm downright mortified as it is already." Rachel looked at him a while longer and when Davis looked at her again; she can see truth and honesty in his eyes. He really _was_ embarrassed about what happened, and he hated that it happened.

"Good," she finally nodded. "You're being honest about this mess so I'll let it go." She looked at him menacingly for a moment, "You do it again though and it's boom-boom-bye-bye-punchface for you!"

"Yes ma'am…" Davis gulped.

"Okay," Rachel nodded, turning to her more pleasant persona once again. "Now that we've dealt with that, can I come in? I want to talk strategy with you over the Tag Tournament."

"Uh… sure." Davis said as he let her in his room and closed the door.


	9. Chapter 9: Spirit Calling

Chapter 9: Spirit Calling

It was finally winter break as most of the students left by boat to go home. The few that were already stayed at the island were already at their dorms or hanging out with each other, being nice and warm in the rooms. There was another person also staying around for the break, but he wasn't having the time of his life…

"Help! HELP!"

The guy was running for his very life through the forest, like a monster was after him.

_'I can't believe this is happening!'_ He thought, glancing over his shoulder as he kept running, _'I can't believe he came alive! He took my friends…'_ And then, out loud… "PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

But as he ran, the sound of footsteps was made right behind him. _'Run as fast as you can mortal; you won't back out of our deal…'_

* * *

At the Slifer dorm, Davis, Rachel, and Alexis decided to hang out with Jaden, Syrus and Chumley at the Slifer dorm. The normally loud Slifer dorms were now rather quiet as only a few Slifers occupied it now. Professor Banner was the only faculty member left to chaperone them, so the Obelisk Blues regularly had to check in with him.

"With most of the people gone for winter break, the whole island seems deserted…" Rachel said as she looked out the window to watch the snowflakes falling while cooking something with Davis. Rachel was cooking fried rice, teriyaki chicken and stir–fried vegetables consisting of shredded lettuce, carrots, and broccoli, all drizzled with teriyaki sauce while Davis was making takoyaki or octopus balls.

"Not really, because there's us." Alexis added.

"True, and besides we'll have the rest of the break to have fun." Davis said turning a takoyaki ball over so it can fully cook.

"And also more duels for us!" Jaden cut in. The Obelisk girls and boy turned to see Jaden having a friendly duel with Syrus with the latter having the field advantage so far.

"And that also means more cafeteria food for us!" Chumley added his input. Everyone was currently in the main eating hall of Slifer Red dorm. Professor Banner, Chumley and Pharaoh were sitting near a small barbecue grill roasting marshmallows while Rachel was cooking fried rice, teriyaki chicken and stir–fried vegetables consisting of shredded lettuce, carrots, and broccoli, and Davis was making takoyaki or octopus balls.

Next to him Chumley was nearly drooling at the food. "The takoyaki smells lishus man," he complimented. "And that fried rice, teriyaki chicken, and stir–fried vegetables smells awesome too Rachel," Davis lightly smacked the boy on the forehead causing him to flinch back.

"Down, Chumley. Sit." Davis said to the Koala Boy.

"Yeah, you may get some drool on the food," Rachel frowned. Humberto and Sam appeared behind him and nodded their heads.

_"No one wants drool tasting food,"_ Sam muttered.

_"Si,"_ Humberto agreed. _"That_ would _be bad."_

"It's good you two are cooking something healthy and a good thing that we're starting to run out of marshmallows…" Professor Banner said. "Because after all, all we're _eating_ are marshmallows."

"Well, we've already downed the grilled cheeses." Chumley pointed out.

"We?" Professor Banner asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah man, as far as _I_ know, you're the only one I know who would scarf down grilled cheese sandwiches in a matter of seconds like a vacuum." Kurogasa said. Meanwhile, Pharaoh watched the marshmallows grow bigger until…

*POP POP!*

Pharaoh freaked out as the two large marshmallows exploded, sending bits of melted white goo at them.

"Lunch is on Pharaoh, guys!" Rachel joked while Davis laughed.

"And speaking of food, dinner is served." Davis said as they finished cooking. Everyone then sat down at the tables with Davis and Rachel serving the food. And after serving the food…

"Dig in!" Davis and Rachel cheered. Everyone then started eating. Jaden and the others had their eyes widened at the taste of the food.

"Wow, this tastes great!" Jaden smiled. "I can definitely go for seconds with this kind of food."

"Yeah, delish!" Syrus added.

"The takoyaki is really chewy." Chumley commented.

"And your fried rice, chicken, and vegetables are good too." Alexis said.

"Yes. Not to mention very healthy too." Professor Banner added. "You really have outdone yourselves you two."

"Thanks guys." Rachel thanked.

"Glad you like it." Davis grinned.

*CRASH!*

A loud crashing sound made everyone jump and stop eating as they turned to the source. Another student, an Obelisk Blue, had crashed through the door and now lay on bits of wood and glass, groaning in pain. Everyone ran towards the fallen Obelisk kneeling down and picking up the Obelisk off the debris to sit him down on a chair.

"Are you okay, can you hear me?" Alexis asked in concern.

Jaden walked up to the guy next and asked, "You ok, bro? You look like you've seen a ghost."

The boy picked his head up and looked at them with a terrified look in his eyes. "I… I have…"

"Uh… what are you talking about…?" Rachel said, nervously.

"Jinzo!" The boy cried out, "The Duel Monster card!" Everyone exchanged looks, and then turned to the Slifer Dorm head.

"Professor Banner, you might wanna call Miss Fontaine…" Jaden told the tall man.

Banner walked up to them, and looked closely at the boy. "I know you… you're Torrey. You were in my Para–Dueling class,"

The boy, Torrey, looked up at him and nodded, "That's right…" He reached over and grabbed Banner's legs and pleaded, "That lecture you gave about Duel Spirits being real… it's all true! We ended up bringing one to life…" He whimpered.

"Forget Miss Fontaine, he needs the school therapist." Chumley said.

"More like psychologist." Davis corrected.

Banner knelt down and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, "Just calm down, Torrey. Tell us what happened, from the very beginning."

"Yes, Professor…"

* * *

Flashback

_'A while back, I told some of my friends about what you said and that under certain conditions, Duel Spirits can come to life.' Torrey narrated. 'Well… we started to try and create those conditions… even though the Academy forbids it. We did it a couple of times, but nothing happened… until yesterday.'_

_In the library, three Obelisk boys stood in front of a table, each one holding a set of candles while wearing robes. One was Torrey, another was a shorter boy, and the last one was a plump boy wearing glasses like Torrey. The smaller boy placed a board on the table and looked at his friends._

_'Maybe it was because we used our bed sheets as robes, or that we used Doctor Crowler's bath candles, but anyway, this time something was different! You see, we all put our hands on a Mystic Box and said the incantation…'_

_"From vapor to flesh, from wind to a roar, come Jinzo from the Land of Yore!" The three chanted in unison, their hands planted firmly on the box. All of them stood there in silence, looking around to see if anything happened. Everyone turned their heads to see a book falling from the second floor shelving, and immediately began to grow nervous. Then they heard an eerie and ominous voice._

End Flashback

* * *

Torrey lowered his head. "We heard a voice and it said, 'Give me three, and I'll be free'. But we thought that he meant cards!"

Banner frowned, "Dear me… mere cards alone won't satisfy Jinzo's appetite. This is just awful!"

"What did Jinzo mean by, give me three and I'll be free?" Syrus asked.

Torrey looked at him and said, "He meant people!"

"People!?" Syrus and Rachel freaked out.

"The worst thing was that we had already agreed…" Torrey lowered his head again, "…before we knew better. Now my friends…"

"What about them? Torrey, what happened?" Alexis asked kindly.

"They're both gone!" He answered. "I've looked everywhere, but it seems like that vanished into thin air. First there was one, then the other… and I _know_ that it's going to be me next!" Everyone looked at each other in concern.

"You sure they didn't just leave to go home for Winter Break, Torrey?" Jaden suggested.

Torrey shook his head. "No, I called their parents, but they had no idea where they were. I doubt that they would even make it home anyway. After all, I tried to leave the island by getting on the ferry, but I couldn't. You see, when I got to the ferry, there _he _was, on the boat waiting for me! There's no escape!"

Jaden frowned. _'Well at least the Slifer Dorm is safe…'_ Suddenly, the lights went out and the whole room was dark. A loud scream and a cat screech were heard, followed by rapid thumping of footsteps and kitchenware being knocked over.

"Okay, _now_ I'm scared." Rachel shuddered hugging Davis tight. "What's going on?"

"Don't know… but stop squeezing me so hard… can't… breathe…ACK!" Davis got out. Rachel loosened up a bit, but she's still hugging tight.

Banner held up his hands as Pharaoh let out a hiss. "Relax everyone, maybe it was just a fuse going out."

"Or maybe it was just a light bulb?" Chumley offered.

"Or maybe… it was _me_!"

Everyone yelled and turned to the door, seeing a tall man in a black leather coat and hat standing just outside, holding an unconscious Torrey under his arm. Everyone including the cat freaked out.

"What the–! Who the hell is that?!" Davis yelled.

"Let Torrey go, Jinzo!" Jaden snapped.

"We have a deal!" Jinzo cackled before turning and running off into the woods.

"No you don't!" Jaden shouted as he ran after them.

"Jaden!" The rest of the gang ran after them.

"Ben, go into XLR8! Pikachu, use Quick Attack! Bart, use the Cheetah Medal! Sam, light the way and stop him!" Davis ordered as they ran.

Ben pressed the Omnitrix's button and turns into the reptillian alien, Pikachu charged up as he ran, looking as if he's teleporting from one spot to another, and Bart switched the Grasshopper Medal with the Cheetah medal and scanned them. With Sam giving off light on the lead, they chased after Jinzo in a blur of speed. Jaden let out a whistle when he saw that. "That was cool man! I didn't know duel spirits could run that fast!" he exclaimed. Davis turned to look at Jaden who was smiling.

"Jay, I don't think we're supposed to be complimenting the evil spirit," Syrus stuttered.

"Huh? Oh no, I was talking about Davis' Avengers. Four of them just went VROOM!" Everyone looked surprised and a bit worried as Jaden made car sounds.

"Not to be a party pooper and all, but shouldn't we be chasing after said spirit?" Rachel asked.

"Oh right!"

Just then Ben appeared as he ran back towards Davis and the others and turned back to normal. _"Davis we found Jinzo,"_ Ben told him. _"We've managed to hold him down at the generators for the island. He won't let go of Torrey though."_

"Got it." Davis looked at the others as Ben disappeared. "Hey guys I know where Jinzo went."

"Where to?" Jaden asked.

"The generators; the spirits told me so."

"Got it. Let's go gang!" Jaden shouted as they all ran towards the destination. But while that happened, a shadowed figure stepped out from behind a tree.

"Soon, I shall take what belongs to me. Soon."

* * *

The kids and Professor Banner and the cat ran towards the generators for the island. It wasn't very far to say the least. When they got there, Sam, Pikachu, and Bart were there with Jinzo in a shimmering, static, like sort of state and the unconscious Torrey.

_"Just give us the kid,"_ Sam shouted.

_"If you do we won't kick your ass and let you be on your way,"_ Bart told the metal monster.

_"Piiiikaaa...," _Pikachu said as he makes sure Jinzo doesn't try to escape.

"You think a bunch of spirits such as yourselves can hold me down? When I'm on my own territory! You are so naïve!" Jinzo shouted. As he did bolts of electricity was shot down from the large towers causing the spirits to scatter to dodge them. "Now I want you to stay back while I take what rightfully belongs to me."

"You won't be doing anything Jinzo!" Jaden hollered as they arrived.

"Thanks guys, we'll take it from here." Davis said. Sam, Pikachu, and Bart nodded as they disappeared. "Hey Jinzo, move aside so we can get Torrey back!"

Jinzo laughed at the demand. "Fool… as I said, he made a deal and I am just fulfilling it."

"What's going on?" Syrus turned to Banner, pointing to the shimmery creature, "Why does Jinzo look like that?"

Banner looked at Jinzo, and then looked at the towers which still sparked electricity, putting two and two together. "He's using the power of the supply station to keep himself in this world until he can get Torrey's soul. He's a crafty one…"

"Well, if you want a third soul Jinzo…" Jaden stepped forward. "Take me!"

"Jaden are you crazy?!" Rachel shouted.

Jinzo looked at Jaden for a bit. "Hmm… you _do_ seem to have more vitality than this pathetic human…" He glanced at Torrey's form. "Very well, I'll take you up on your offer."

"Fine, on _one_ condition: we duel!" Jaden stated.

"Saw that one coming." Alexis noted.

"If I win, you release Torrey and the other kids you took and if you win, you can have me."

"A duel?" Jinzo seemed to think for a few moments, "Very well. I should be sustained long enough by this electrical limbo for a match." He laughed as more white arcs appeared around them, cutting Jaden off from the rest of the group. "First I'll beat you, and then I'll consume you!"

"Like _that'll_ ever happen…" Jaden remarked, as he activated his duel disk and drew his starting Hand. "Get your game on, Jinzo!"

* * *

**Jaden:** 4000

**Jinzo:** 4000

Five large holographic cards appeared behind him, serving as his opening hand, "Let's…" Electricity crackled as a sixth card appeared in front of Jinzo. "First, I summon Malice Doll of Demise in ATK Mode!" A very creepy looking doll in overalls with a large axe appeared on the field. The doll's wide eyes were looking at Jaden with bloodlust (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1700). "Next, I'll play the Spell Card, Ectoplasmer!" Another card was revealed from behind Jinzo, and stood in front of him. "This fiendish spirit allows each player to sacrifice a Monster on their Field at the end of their turn. Then, half of the monster's ATK is dealt to the opponent as Direct Damage!" A long, white worm–like spirit rose from the Doll, and flew right through Jaden's chest. The Slifer winced as his points went down.

**Jaden:** 3200

**Jinzo:** 4000

"Jaden's already falling behind and it's not even his first turn yet!" Syrus gasped.

"And it's gonna get worse, that doll can come back to life since it was sent to the grave by a Continuous Spell." Alexis added.

Jaden rose to his feet, looking on at the Field, _'Alexis's right: Ectoplasmer's a Continuous Spell Card. Jinzo will be able to use its magic every turn.'_ He then smiled. _'But luckily, so will I.'_

"Alright spooky, my draw!" Jaden drew his card and looked at his Hand. "Aw man… I only have one Monster. Oh well… guess it'll have to do. I summon Elemental Hero Avian in ATK mode!" The green–feathered winged Hero appeared on the Field (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). "And then I'll throw down four face downs…" Four reverse cards appeared near Jaden's feet.

"And next, I'll play a Continuous Spell Card of my own!" Jaden grinned as he inserted the last card in his hand. "Mirage of Nightmare! Now, when it's your turn, I get to draw four cards, but when it's _my_ turn I'll have to discard four cards. But before all that, I'll have Avian attack you! Windstorm Strike!" Jinzo growled as Avian's punch, literally, went right through him, leaving a hole before Jinzo reformed.

**Jaden:** 3200

**Jinzo:** 3000

"And I'm not done yet, Jinzo!" Jaden grinned wider. "Now I'll use your own Ectoplasmer sacrifice effect against you. I'll sacrifice my Avian and deal you Damage equal to half of his own ATK Points!" Avian fell to his knees, but a spirit form of itself rose from the body and punched Jinzo in the chest, just like its physical counterpart did.

**Jaden:** 3200

**Jinzo:** 2500

"Aw yeah!" Davis cheered.

"Lishus!" Chumley grinned.

"Go get 'em Jaden!" Rachel yelled happily.

"Way to play Jay!" Syrus cheered as well.

Jaden pumped his arm, "Yeah, we got ourselves a game now!"

Jinzo growled as electricity crackled again making another holographic card appear in front of him. "A game that you will soon lose; since Malice Doll of Demise was sent to the Graveyard thanks to an effect of a Spell Card, he automatically resurrects…" The possessed doll, armed with his axe reappeared, with the same menacing look (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1700).

"Great… Chucky's back…" Davis muttered.

"And speaking of Spells, _mine_ now activates… Mirage of Nightmare!" Jaden drew his four new cards. "Then, I'll play one of my other face downs, the Quick–Play Spell Card, Emergency Provisions! As long as I give up a Spell or Trap Card, I can gain 1000 Life Points, so I'll ditch Mirage of Nightmare to do it!" The card in question then disappeared into pixels as Jaden glowed a green aura translating as gaining Life Points.

**Jaden:** 4200

**Jinzo:** 2500

Chumley smiled. "Lishus! Not only did he get 1000 more points, he got rid of Mirage of Nightmare so he won't have to ditch his cards when his turn comes up!"

Jinzo wasn't worried though… "I summon Emissary of the Afterlife in ATK Mode…" A fiendish grim reaper like monster in a black cloak, wielding a scythe floated next to the doll. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 600)

"On second thought, maybe it would've been better to play some defense…" Chumley whimpered.

"Don't count Jaden out yet." Davis said. "I'm sure those four facedowns are gonna help him somehow."

Jinzo pointed to Jaden, "Since you have no Monsters out, I can attack you directly with Emissary of the Afterlife; Sickle Slasher!" The Emissary raised its scythe into the air and it glowed, ready to strike.

"Not so fast!" Jaden cried as another card was revealed. "I play my Trap Card, A Hero Emerges! Now, you can pick a card from my Hand, and if it's a Monster, I can Special Summon it out instantly. So go ahead and pick!"

Jinzo lifted a finger that sparked the card he pointed to. "Far right!"

Jaden looked at the card and placed it on the field, "Nice pick… for me, anyway. Say hello to Elemental Hero Sparkman!" A burst of electricity appeared in the air and out came the electric hero (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) As soon as that happened, Sparkman and Emissary of the Afterlife rushed, attacked, and destroyed each other into pixels.

"Foolish mortal!" Jinzo snapped, "By sending Emissary of the Afterlife to the Graveyard, his special effect is activated. Now, each of us can take a Level 3 or lower Monster from our Decks and add them to our Hands. I choose Thousand–Eyes Idol." A card image of the famous blob with many eyes with hands and legs, a striped pointy hat and blue cape that Maximillion Pegasus used to fuse with his Relinquished to make Thousand–Eyes Restrict, appeared and was sent to the Jinzo's Hand.

Jaden looked through his Deck as well. "And, I choose good ol' Burstinatrix!"

"So be it, now to continue with my turn," Jinzo said, "Doll of Demise, attack him directly with Cleaver Heaver!" He commanded. The doll laughed darkly before throwing its axe at Jaden. The Slifer groaned in pain as it passed right through him.

**Jaden:** 2600

**Jinzo:** 2500

"And I end my turn, but don't forget the effect of my Ectoplasmer…" Jinzo reminded. "I'll send him to Graveyard and inflict half of its ATK points to you as Damage!" His doll vanished and its spirit wrapped itself around Jaden's body, damaging him.

**Jaden:** 1800

**Jinzo:** 2500

Jinzo laughed again. "Having this duel was a wonderful idea. It's much more fun, enjoying something… slowly tasting it instead of taking it all in at once."

"Jaden, your legs!" Alexis yelled out.

The Slifer looked down to see that his legs were looking like Jinzo's body, shimmery and fading out. "What's happening?!"

"What's happening is that I'm cashing in on our duel, boy. You lost half your Life Points, so I'm taking half of your life force," Jinzo explained, "And it feels good!"

"I'm not gonna let you take me Jinzo… I'll duel to the end!" Jaden drew his card, "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in ATK Mode!" The big, bulky rock hero appeared in front of Jaden. (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 2000). "Next, I'll play from the field, Clay Wrap and equip it to my Clayman!"

"Clay Wrap?" Davis wondered. "Never heard of that card before."

"…and I'll just keep on going with Polymerization! I'll fuse Elemental Hero Clayman with my Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in my Hand to create the Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster !" Burstinatrix appeared and she and Clayman went into a clear vortex to fuse together. When finished, the feminine, rocky, fiery, fusion monster appeared, readying the missile launcher (6/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2500).

"Here's the sweet part. Since Clayman was used in the Fusion, both he and Clay Wrap are sent to the Graveyard and that activates the latter's ability. The ability to destroy a Spell Card on your side of the Field!" Jaden pointed to the one that mattered, "I choose the Ectoplasmer card!" Davis and Rachel looked at Jaden in shock as the mentioned card exploded on impact.

"Lishus. Now Jaden won't have to deal with Effect Damage." Chumley cheered.

"Jaden! What the hell are you doing?!" Davis freaked out making Jaden turn to him.

"What?" Jaden asked.

"You would've won this turn!"

"Whaddya mean?" Jaden asked confused.

"What he meant was, you should've attacked directly with Rampart Blaster and used Ectoplasmer effect's after to win. But that chance was gone thanks to you using Clay Wrap's effect." Rachel clarified. Jaden looked at the two Obelisks for a while taking in what they just said and then…

"You know, you're right, I should've done that." Jaden said calmly. Davis and Rachel fell down anime style before getting back up.

"REALLY?!" Davis and Rachel yelled making Jaden cower.

"Yeesh… Sorry…" Jaden muttered. "But who cares now? At least I won't get Effect Damage from Jinzo's sacrifices. Now it's time to let Blaster do what he does best. Attack directly with Rampart Barrage!" Jaden ordered. Jinzo didn't even flinch as multiple missiles shot from Rampart Blaster and struck the machine head on.

**Jaden:** 1800

**Jinzo:** 500

"You should be lucky you didn't have a body to feel that one… Now I'll end my turn with a face down." Jaden said.

"My draw," Jinzo raised his arm and electricity crackled making another holographic card appeared in front of him. "Hehe… and I couldn't have asked for a better one. With this card, my resurrection is all the more closer!"

"I got a bad feeling about this…" Davis muttered.

"_What_ card?!" Jaden demanded.

Jinzo chuckled. "First, I'll activate Malice Doll's effect again and have him come back from the Graveyard, but only to sacrifice him in order to conjure…" the spirit laughed as his newest card turned around and revealed itself to the others, "JINZO!"

The field came to life all the electricity from the nearby power stations gathered into the air, and then struck the card point blank. The card disappeared and a large figure rose, crackling with dark pink energy before the light disappeared and its place, was the spirit itself: Jinzo, not even a hologram, he was actually real! (6/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1500)

"Aw c'mon! You can't just draw and summon yourself!" Jaden protested.

"I just did…" Jinzo shot back with a hint of deadpanning in his voice. "Now I can attack you personally, or rather your Rampart Blaster for now… Cyber Energy Shock!" He launched an orb of crackling power straight at the Fusion monster, blowing her to pieces. Not only that Jaden started to lose more of his body.

**Jaden:** 1400

**Jinzo:** 500

"You're next…" Jinzo said, ending his turn.

"Aw no. Jaden's Rampart Blaster is gone. And with Jinzo on the Field, Jaden won't be able to activate any of his Trap Cards." Chumley said.

"Yeah, and with no Monsters on the Field, Jaden's in a tough bind." Davis said. "Hopefully, the next card he draws is something good."

"Alright! It's my move!" Jaden drew his next card, "I summon Wroughtweiler in DEF Mode!" He declared as the metal dog jumped in front of him, crouched in defense. (3/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200) "And there's a reason why he's called Man's Best Friend…"

Chumley nodded. "Lishus, If Wroughtweiler is destroyed; Jaden can get an Elemental Hero and Polymerization back from the Graveyard and add it to his Hand."

"It's still a risky move, I hope he knows what he's doing…" Syrus murmured.

"He _better_ know. Because who knows what'll happen when Jinzo's turn comes up." Alexis stated.

"Are you ready for more pain, mortal?" Jinzo inquired as another card appeared in front of him, "I summon Spirit Caller!" An elderly looking person in tan robes appeared. (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)

_'Here it comes…'_ Jaden thought as he gritted his teeth getting ready for the upcoming attacks.

"And then, I'll attack your Wroughtweiler with Cyber Energy Shock!"

Jinzo fired another shot. Jaden looked away as the cyber–dog was destroyed, then grinned, "Oopsie… now I get Clayman and Polymerization back from my Graveyard and add them to my Hand!" He held up the two cards to show him.

"It doesn't matter… you have no Monsters on the Field to use them with." Jinzo taunted. "And now, Spirit Caller, attack the mortal directly with Breath from Beyond!" The elderly figure's face changed into a horrid one as it let out a high–pitched screech that passed right through Jaden, making more of his own body turn shimmery and transparent.

**Jaden:** 400

**Jinzo:** 500

"Not good… he's down to his last points." Chumley whimpered.

"Aw man…" Syrus said.

"C'mon Jaden, you can do it." Davis gritted.

"Finally, I'll equip myself with the Equip Spell Card, Amplifier!" Jinzo paused as a large, metal helmet appeared on his head, feeding him energy. "With this, I'm not bound by my own Special Ability any longer. Now I can use any Trap Card I please. So I bet you can guess what this facedown is…" He cackled as the said card appeared in front of him.

"This is bad… Now Jaden's behind on points, Monsters, _and _Traps." Rachel said.

"Your demise is imminent…" Jinzo said cryptically.

"I don't think so!" Jaden drew his next card, "I'm playing the Spell Card, Pot of Greed! This lets me draw two cards from my Deck." He drew two more cards, "Next, I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in ATK mode!" The blue water theme armored Hero came to his side. (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200) "Next, I'll give him more pop by equipping him with Bubble Blaster! This raises his ATK Points by 800!" A large, blue water cannon with a glass target shield appeared in Bubbleman's hands.

Elemental Hero Bubbleman (4/ATK: 800–1600/DEF: 1200)

"Now, attack Spirit Caller with Bombarded Bubble Barrage!"

Bubbleman took a knee and shot a huge bubble from the cannon at the Spirit Caller. The bubble burst as soon as it connected, wiping Spirit Caller from the field.

Jinzo chuckled. "Well done… but since you destroyed my Monster, I can activate my Trap Card, Spirit Barrier!" Jinzo raised his arm to reveal his face down card, "This keeps me from taking Damage as long as there's a Monster on my Field, and in case you've forgotten, it's me!"

"You're just a phantom to me, Jinzo and this card…" Jaden took a card from his hand, "… is going to keep it that way! I play the Spell Card, Fairy of the Spring! With it, I can take one Equip Spell Card from my Graveyard and add it to my Hand. I choose my Clay Wrap!"

"Clay Wrap?" Syrus wondered.

"That's the card that sends a Spell or Trap card to the Graveyard if _it's _sent to the Graveyard. It could come in handy."

"I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn." Jaden inserted a card into a slot and a reverse card appeared on the Field.

Jinzo laughed. "Well I call that pathetic." Electricity crackled as another holographic card appeared on the Field. "Almost as pathetic as I'm going to make your Bubbleman look!" He launched another energy blast directly at the Hero, but all it did was destroy the Bubble _Blaster_ instead of the Bubble_man_.

Elemental Hero Bubbleman (4/ATK: 1600–800/DEF: 1200)

Jaden grinned. "Whoops, guess I didn't mention that when Bubbleman is equipped with Bubble Blaster, he doesn't burst. It's his weapon that does."

The spirit seethed as he set a card on the field beside him. "But that buys you only one turn… that's all!"

"And hopefully, that's all I need…" Jaden drew his card and looked at it, smiling. _'Winged Kuriboh!'_ Jaden watched as his spirit monster appear beside his head cooing. _'I'm with you there, pal… that is one ugly dude.'_

He wasn't the only one who could see Kuriboh…

"A spirit?" Jinzo looked on.

_'So_ that's _Jaden's spirit partner. Winged Kuriboh.'_ Davis thought.

"He's a friend first and a spirit second!" Jaden said defensively. "Which is probably why he doesn't need to snack on human souls to chill out in the Land of the Living! Now back to work… I bring out the Hero Clayman to the Field!" The bulky rock hero appeared again. "And I'll equip him with Clay Wrap, just like last time!" _And_ like last time, the slimy wrap covered Clayman before disappearing from sight. "That's not all! Next, I'm gonna bust out Polymerization and fuse Bubbleman with Clayman to create the Elemental Hero Mudball Man!"

Jinzo looked nervous as a big round bulky hero with the face of Bubbleman appeared (6/ATK: 1900/DEF: 3000)

Jaden smiled. "And, since Clay Wrap was sent to the Graveyard, I get to use its effect to destroy one Spell or Trap card on the Field, like that Amplifier of yours!"

"NO!" Jinzo roared as the helmet exploded into pieces and as he reverted to his transparent form, flickering in and out of the living world.

"Lishus! And when Amplifier is destroyed, the Monster equipped with it is destroyed too!" Chumley cheered.

"Nice! Way to play Jay!" Syrus cheered as well.

"NO! I HAVE COME SO CLOSE! I WILL NOT LET IT END LIKE THIS! I REFUSE!" Jinzo shrieked before disappearing from sight.

Jaden looked around. "Where'd he go?"

"Uh… guys…" Rika said pointing her finger at something. Everyone looked at her, pointing to Torrey. Everyone followed his finger to see Torrey standing up, his eyes glowing red.

"Torrey, are you ok?!" Jaden asked.

"I'm… not Torrey," the Obelisk looked at them all, speaking with two voices; his and… "I'm Jinzo, and I bring myself back with my Call of the Haunted card…" He declared, looking down at the face down on the Field.

"No you don't!" Jaden pushed a button on his disk, "I activate the Trap Card, Solemn Judgment! It may take half of my Life Points to use it, but that's ok, because it takes that Trap Card you were about to play and destroys it!"

**Jaden:** 200

**Jinzo:** 500

"Nooo!" Jinzo moaned as the card was destroyed before it activated.

"Now, Mudball Man, finish him with Fire Shockwave!"

The Hero jumped into the air and let loose a red beam filled with dozens of rings that rained down upon the possessed Obelisk. As it made contact, a bright light appeared making everyone shield their eyes as it engulfed the whole area.

**Jaden:** 200

**Jinzo:** 0

* * *

When the huge burst of light faded after Jinzo's defeat, Jaden and the others took their arms as they now see that Jinzo was gone and they looked to see the now unconscious Torrey and just a few feet from him were the other two unconscious boys.

"Thank goodness that's over," Alexis sighed. Davis nodded and walked over towards Jaden.

"You okay bro?" he asked.

"Never better!" Jaden smiled. This had the Obelisk Blue nodding and smiling as well. Kurogasa then went to check on the other unconscious students.

"They're alive at least."

"They're all back; safe and sound." Professor Banner said.

"Think they'll remember what happened?" Syrus asked.

"Probably be best if they forgot." Jaden said. "But _I_ sure won't. Duel Spirits aren't just real, they're dangerous. Well… some of them are, but not all."

"I hear ya on that." Davis agreed. "Chumley, Prof. Banner, can you help me take these guys back to campus?" The two guys nodded and went to grab the students. After picking up the other two, while Kurogasa grabbed Torrey, they started to head away from the generators. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Davis' neck stood up. Something was wrong. "Jay catch!" Davis yelled as he lightly shoved Torrey towards the Slifer.

"Wha–?!" Jaden shouted as he managed to catch the Obelisk blue student.

"Syrus, toss me your Duel Disk!"

"Huh?" Syrus asked confused.

"Just do it!" Davis yelled. Syrus complied. He took off his Duel Disk, and his Deck out of it and threw at it Davis, to which the latter caught. It was a good thing too, because the moment Jaden got out of the gate and Davis catching the Duel Disk, purple flames surrounded the fence, cutting off Davis from the others.

"What now!?" Rachel demanded.

"A Shadow Game?!" Chumley shouted. A dark laugh filled the area and Davis looked behind him. Stepping from out of the purple flames was a figure holding up a brass metal wristband with a Millennium Eye symbol on it that was glowing gold. And the one wearing it was none other than the cloaked man with the fisherman hat on.

"Narutaki!" Davis growled.

"Good evening Eitoku," he greeted.

"What are you doing here again?"

"And as a professor of this Academy I demand you leave this island immediately!" Banner commanded. In his arms, Pharaoh meowed in agreement.

"I think not. I have some unfinished business with this young man here," Narutaki stated. He then turned to Davis. "I am here to take your Avenger deck."

"Over my dead body!" Davis replied coldly.

"My thoughts exactly." Orpheus chuckled.

"Why don't you just stay the heck away from me?!" Davis frowned.

"Oh I will, after I get those cards that is."

"You'll have to beat me first!" Davis took out his deck out of his deck box. The duel disk activated as he slotted his deck in it.

"Davis don't do this!" Rachel cried out. "It's too dangerous!"

"It's not like I have a choice Rach, I can't escape unless this duel is over."

"Indeed." Narutaki stated as he too slotted his deck into his duel disk. "Let the Shadow Game begin." Both players drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Davis:** 4000

**Narutaki:** 4000

"I'll go first!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Spider-Girl!" Our friendly neighborhood hero appeared (4/ATK: 1650/DEF: 1200). "Then I play two facedowns and end my turn!" he said as two reversed cards appeared on the Field. "Your move!"

"It's my turn now. And I draw." Narutaki said as he drew his sixth card. He chuckled at what he got.

"What's so funny?" Davis growled.

"It's time for you to face eternal Hell. I summon Bartman Eternity in ATK mode!"

"WHAT?!" Davis and May asked shocked.

A silhouette of a woman appeared. Around her waist was a belt that looked like an L. The figure raised up her right hand and held out a white Gaia Memory with a stylized golden E in the middle and pressed the button on it.

**ETERNITY!**

_"Let's ride,"_ the woman calmly stated as she slotted the memory in and pushed the driver to the side.

**ETERNITY!**

It made a fast paced beat box sound before a white and red ring of electricity around the figure before white armor appeared on her. Her forearms and legs were designed with red flames. Her helmet had two horn shaped on her head with a yellow eye (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1200).

_"Hello, Avenger,"_ Eternityl greeted.

_"Another Bartman?"_ Spidey said shocked.

"Whoa! There were _more_ Bartmen?!" Jaden said in disbelief.

"I thought you had the only one!" Chumley added.

"I was thinking the same thing. Where did you get the dark Bartmen?!" Davis demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Narutaki chuckled.

"ANSWER ME!"

"Tell you what, I'll tell you if you beat me." He then gestured to the dark Bartman. "But for now, I'll show you Eternity's power, but first I activate Heavy storm to destroy your face downs!" A furious gust of wind blew all around the two destroying Davis' cards.

"Oh no! His defenses are gone!" Rachel shouted.

"Now Eternity, show him some pain."

_"Gladly,"_ Eternity agreed. She pulled out a cyan blue Gaia Memory and activated it.

**UNICORN!**

"That doesn't sound so bad," Syrus shouted.

_"It's rather bad kid,"_ Eternity replied and one could hear the smirk in her voice She then placed it into her right side to activate a maximum drive.

**UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE!**

Her right fist was covered in a blue spiraling energy and the Bartmen smashed it into Spidey.

**Davis:** 3950

**Narutaki:** 4000

"Bartman Eternity's Effect activates," Narutaki exclaimed. "When she destroys a Monster on the Field, it is sent out of play instead of the Graveyard." Suddenly Spidey was dragged away into a swirling void.

"May!" Davis shouted.

_"Good riddance,"_ Eternity laughed.

"I put one card face down and end my turn."

"Grr…" Davis growled and drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Davis drew two.

_"Davis. Get me on the field."_ Bart said from his card. Davis nodded at this.

"I play Double Summon to bring out two monsters instead of one. And I'm sure you're familiar with _these_ Avengers! I summon Bartman OOO and Marceline the Vampire Princess in ATK mode!"

Marcelne (LV4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 0) appeared with a silhouette of a man with the OOO Belt in front of Davis. The figure took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor. Becoming Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"Ah, if it isn't Marceline. I haven't seen you in a while," Narutaki said casually. Both Davis and Marceline glared at him.

_"Brother...how nice to see you again." _Eternity greeted to the traffic colored Avenger.

_"Not in the mood for a hello, Julia. I defeated you once and I can do it again." _Bart said. Apparently there's some sort of connection to these two Bartmen.

"Now I use OOO's special ability. He gains 100 ATK for every monster on the Field and I count three. Bart, do your thing!" Davis shouted.

"I got it!" Bart took out his Medal Scanner before swipes it onto his belt for a finisher.

Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000–2300/DEF: 2000-2300)

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

He then jumped and, as three circles corresponding to his Medals appear, went through them before ending with a powerful kick at his sister. Instead of exploding immediately Eternity laughed.

_"Hahaha! Don't think this is the end Brother!"_ Eternity shouted before turning to some sort of white dust.

"I activate my trap card! Dimension Wall! Even though my Monster is destroyed, _you_ are the one who takes Damage instead!" Narutaki shouted. From behind Davis a large flame explosion occurred. He also felt pain coming onto his back, causing him to scream out.

**Davis:** 3350

**Narutaki:** 4000

"Davis!" everyone shouted.

"Did you forget this was a Shadow Game Davis?" Narutaki laughed. This caused Davis to glare before putting one card in the trap and spell area.

"I place one card face down and end my turn by having Marceline attack." He finished as he placed a reverse card on the Field and Marceline struck a blow at Narutaki with her Ax.

**Davis:** 3350

**Narutaki:** 2400

_"I always wanted to get back at this man,"_ Marceline stated.

"My move." Narutaki said drawing his next card. "I summon Fuzzy Lumpkins in ATK mode!"

A large, husky, furry, pink, bear-like hillbilly monster with a wide jaw, a bulbous green nose, red-pink eyes, two antennae on his head and big, blue overalls appeared, wielding a gun as he was ready to shoot something (4/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1100).

"What!?" Rachel shouted. "What is that thing!?"

"Not lishus at all," Chumley stated.

_"I'll blast 'em good!"_ Fuzzy said. _"This makes things a lot easier then."_

"Fuzzy go destroy Marceline!"

_"Okey dokey."_ Fuzzy prepared his gun and shouted, _"Ay, YOU! GET OFFA MAH PROPERTY!" _One blast destroyed the vampire into pixels. Davis flinched a bit as the purple flames licked at his body.

**Davis:** 2850

**Narutaki:** 2400

"I put one card face down and end my turn." Narutaki said as he end his turn.

"My move!" Davis drew his next card. "I play another Double Summon! Now I summon Stinger in ATK mode and set a monster in DEF mode!"

Cassie (3/ATK: 1500/DEF: 750) appeared along with a facedown card.

"I'm not done yet! I play Card of Sanctity!" Davis declared playing his last card. "This lets us both draw until we have six." Davis drew the full six while Narutaki drew three. "Now I'll tribute Stinger in order to Special Summon Stature!"

Cassie underwent a costume change with the black being replaced with white and she took off her mask when growing a few feet taller (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1700).

"Now Cassie, attack Fuzzy!"

_"Right!"_ Cassie said she was about to charge.

"Hold it right there! I activate the trap, A Hero Emerges! Now you pick a card, and if it's a Monster, I get it summon it."

"The far left…" Davis answered.

"Hahaha… Nice choice… , for me that is. I Special Summon Scorpion in ATK mode!"

"What?!" Davis, Cassie and Bart shouted.

A man in a yellow ninja outfit with some sort of deathly motif appeared (7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1900)

_"We meet again Avengers. Your souls will be mine!"_ Scorpion growled. This caused the Avengers to step back and get into a ready position to fight.

"Will you continue your attack Davis?" Narutaki asked.

"Of course I will!"

"I thought so. I activate Scorpion's special ability, once per turn when a Monster on my field is targeted by an attacking Monster I get to change the target to Scorpion. Then his attack becomes equal to that of the attacking Monster until the end of that battle, luckily for you though neither is destroyed. Scorpion, do your thing!" Scorpion just nodded and hellfire gathered as his feet.

Scorpion (7/ATK: 2600-2200/DEF: 2000)

Then Scorpion teleported and sent a kick towards Stature. Cassie was then bounced off and back onto Davis' side and Scorpion's stats returned to normal.

"I still get to attack with OOO! Bart, attack Fuzzy!" Davis commanded.

The same with Eternity happend again with Fuzzy dstroyed into pixels.

**Davis:** 2850

**Narutaki:** 2100

"Lishus! He's in the lead." Chumley cheered.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Davis concluded placing a reverse card on the Field.

"It's my move." Narutaki said drawing his card making his Hand at seven. "I _also_ play Double Summon, which allows me to summon twice this turn. "Then I play Cost Down. By discarding one card from my Hand, I can lower the level of all Monsters in my Hand by two." He discarded a card. "Now I can Normal Summon Bartman Strika and Sheeva in ATK mode!"

A four-armed woman in some bathing suit appeared, cracking all four of her knuckeles. This was Sheeva (6–4/ATK: 2250/DEF: 1800). Next to her was a silhouette carrying a case with a cobra on it. _"Let's Ride!"_ he shouted and slotted his case in his belt. Grey blur covered him before they revealed a purple snake based Bartman. His armor was dark purple with yellow designs on them making it look similar to a pattern found on a cobra. His helmet was also bigger very reminiscent of a cobra's hood. In his hand was a small staff, his visor, where he would slot in his cards. This one was Bartman Strika (6-4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1500). Strika looked around and grunted at everything and everyone around him. "_You all vex me_," he muttered.

_"Strika…" _Bartman OOO growled. On the other hand, he coward a bit when he saw Sheeva. _"Sheeva...ummm, it's nice to...see you?"_

_"Oh, OOO. Nice to see you, too. Even when I'm about to kick your (bleep)in ass!"_ Sheeva sneered.

_"And you still have that grudge about that last date we had. Great." _Bart replied in a sarcastic, yet cowardly tone.

"Now I activate Strika's ability," Narutaki continued. "When he's successfully summoned, I cut one of your Monster's ATK in half! And I choose Stature!"

Strika frowned at being commanded to do stuff but listened anyway, he get to kill people after all. Drawing a card from his deck holder he put it into the staff and slammed it down.

**ADVENT!**

From the shadows a massive purple armored cobra emerged, getting Syrus and Chumley to scream out in terror at the sight of the monster. It spat poison onto Stature.

"Ah!" Stature shouted as the poison started to hurt her.

Stature (6/ATK: 2200–1100/DEF: 1700)

"Cassie!" Davis gasped.

"Oh, it's going to get worse for him," Narutaki chuckled. "Scorpion, destroy Stature!" Scorpion snickered before sending out a rope with a tipped Kunai at the end, which it impaled itself into Cassie's chest, then allowing Scorpion to pull her through the air towards him as he shouted,

**"GET OVER HERE!"**

He slammed his fist full of hellfire into Cassie as she screamed in pain as she exploded, taking some of Davis' life points with him. As he lost more Life Points, Davis screamed out in pain.

**Davis:** 1350

**Narutaki:** 2100

"Now Bartman Strika, attack the facedown card! Final Vent!" Narutaki ordered. Strika snickered and drew a card from his buckle before popping a hidden chamber in the head of his Veno Visor. Slipping the card inside, he shut the chamber again with the machine calling,

**FINAL VENT!**

Once again the giant purple snake slithered out from a reflective surface of yet another generator, this time the one next to Narutaki. Strika started running in front of it, while it followed him. Right as he got in between the two duelists Strika jumped up and the snake spat out poison as he did scissor kicks on the facedown monster, revealed to be Kanan the Swordswoman(4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1400), destroying her. At least it didn't hurt Davis.

_"Heh!"_ he snickered, rolling his head.

"I end my turn." Narutaki said.

"Before I draw I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted to bring back Stature!" Davis' face down card flipped over and revealed itself. Then from out of the ground Cassie came out. Oddly enough she was panting. "You okay?"

_"That last attack hurt more than I thought it would,"_ Cassie replied. _"I'll manage though."_

"Okay. Now I draw!" Davis got his next card making it five cards and then examined his hand. "First off I activate the Spell Card, Magical Stone Excavation! By discarding two cards I get to add one Spell Card from my Graveyard to my hand and I choose Double Summon!" Davis discarded two cards before the graveyard slot of his duel disk spat out Double Summon. "Then I play Double Summon to bring out both Monkey D. Luffy and American Dream!"

This time the Straw Hat (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1700) and the Star Spangled Avenger (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 2100) appeared on Davis' side.

_"Well it seems like we may have some trouble , eh Davis__?" _Luffy asked.

"You got the right Luffy, but we can handle him," Davis replied.

_"You're hurt again Davis,"_ Dream mentioned. _"This Shadow Game is taking its toll you isn't it?"_ When Davis didn't answer Shannon nodded her head. _"I thought so. Let's finish this quick so you may get your answers and rest."_

"I know that, so here I go! First I attack Bartman Strika with Luffy!" Davis declared.

"Nice try , but Scorpion's effect activates!" Narutaki replied. Scorpion glowed for a second and his ATK points lowered itself to match Luffy's, before teleporting forward to give a fiery punch.

Scorpion (7/ATK: 2600–1900/DEF: 2000)

In response, Luffy did his signature attack.

**"GUM GUM PISTOL!"**

Both fighters meet at the center with their moves causing an explosion. Luffy fell to the floor with a thud and rolled, while Scorpion landed on his feet and the latter's stats returned to normal.

_"Ow… How can we even _beat_ that guy?"_ Luffy asked as he stood up.

"Teamwork," Davis explained. "Next I attack with Stature and destroy your Scorpion now that his effect is used! And when she battles a Monster, she gains 1000 ATK points!"

Stature (6/ATK: 2200–3200/DEF: 1700)

_"Finally, revenge for blocking my previous attack!"_ Stature shouted as she charged and pounded Scorpion down.

_"I will have my revenge…"_ Scorpion muttered before he exploded.

**Davis:** 1350

**Narutaki:** 1500

This time the man did flinch in pain as the flames licked at his body.

"Not so tough are you?" Davis taunted. "Bartman OOO attacks Sheeva!"

_"Yeah!"_ Bart does the same thing yet again,as he was powerful enough to defeat Sheeva.

Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000–2600/DEF: 2000-2600)

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

He then jumped and, as three circles corresponding to his Medals appear, went through them before ending with a powerful kick, destroying the monster.

**Davis:** 1350

**Narutaki: **1150

"And finally, Dream destroys Strika with a help from my Hand, the Spell card Rush Recklessly, giving her 700 more ATK points until the end of my turn!"

American Dream (4/ATK: 1800-2500/DEF: 2100)

Dream charged at the Bartman before slammin her shield into him and sent him flying in the air. Strika let out a scream before exploding.

**Davis:** 1350

**Narutaki: **550

"And with that I end my turn," Davis stated.

"I draw!" Narutaki looked at his hand, seeing that he now had three cards. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards!" Now that he had four cards he started laughing.

"G–Guys, he's laughing," Syrus stuttered.

"I don't think that's a good thing," Jaden agreed.

"That is true young one," Narutaki agreed. "I summon Bartman Punch Hopper in ATK mode!"

Another silhouette appeared, and this time the belt looked like some sort of platform on the belt. Suddenly there was a thumping noise.

"Hey what's that?" Rachel asked. They all looked on the ground and saw red pulses moving around on the floor before it jumped into the air and into the silhouette's hands. They saw it was robotic grasshopper, a Hopper Zector. One side was completely rusty red and the other side was green. The silhouette was holding out the red side of it and said _"Let's ride!"_

**CHANGE PUNCH HOPPER!**

Brownish red honeycomb like energy encased the figure as the armor materialized itself. There was a standard black body suit on him and his armor was grey and brown on the chest piece with protrusions on the shoulder. His helmet was designed into a grasshopper's head, although more spiked on the front and on the side. He also had brown gauntlets that went up to his wrist, with a yellow V shaped device, an anchor–jack, on his right hand. Thus, Bartman Punch Hopper is on was on the Field. (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)

Punch Hopper looked onto the field and sighed and hung his head almost melancholy. _"I don't like this place,"_ he sighed. _"OOO is here and Lux_ _isn't here."_

"Don't worry, your brother will be here. Due to Punch Hopper's effect, if he is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon Bartman Kick Hopper from my Hand or Deck." Narutaki took his deck out and rifled through it looking for the right card. After finding it, he nodded to before summoning the card and shuffling his deck back into the duel disk.

This silhouette had a twin belt similar to that of Punch Hopper. Again that odd bouncing noise was heard and another Hopper Zector bounced into his hand. This time the green side was showing. _"Let's Ride,"_ the guy shouted and placed the device onto his belt.

**CHANGE KICK HOPPER!**

Just like Punch Hopper, green honeycomb shaped energy engulfed his body as the armor appeared. It looked exactly the same as Punch Hopper's but with a different color scheme. Instead of brown and grey, this one was silver and green. The yellow anchor-jack was on his right leg though. Bartman Kick Hoper seemed to glare at everyone. (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800)

_"Brother,"_ Punch Hopper greeted almost longingly. Kick Hopper looked at him before nodding his head at him. Kick Hopper then glared at Davis.

_"Have you come to laugh at us?"_ he asked. "_You're more than welcome to, just be prepared to face hell."_

"My thoughts exactly," Narutaki agreed. "Next I activate Magical Stone Excavation to regain my Heavy Storm." Just like Davis he discarded two cards and took Heavy Storm out of the Graveyard. "Then I activate it to destroy all our Spell and Trap cards. Sadly you're the only one with them." A strong gust of wind destroyed Call of the Haunted and took Stature with it.

"Cassie!" Davis shouted. He thought he was okay though, he still had Bartman OOO, Dream, and Luffy.

"Oh don't think you're safe just yet. I activate the abilities of both Punch and Kick Hopper. By skipping my Battle Phase, I can inflict damage equal to half of their original ATK Points. Show him hell boys." Kick Hopper glanced at Narutaki before grunting.

Bartman Punch Hopper (3/ATK: 1200–600/DEF: 800)

Bartman Kick Hopper (3/ATK: 1200–600/DEF: 800)

_"Let's do this,"_ Kick Hopper stated.

_"Right!"_ Punch Hopper agreed. Both of them lifted up the hind leg portion of the Zectors and lifted them up.

**RIDER JUMP!**

Both men bent their knees as their respective colored energies went into their feet. Then the two were propelled high into the air. Everyone followed them with their eyes and as they reached the apex of their jump they flipped back the legs.

**RIDER KICK/PUNCH!**

Kick Hopper was the first to attack as he soared over the Avengers. As he landed green electricity powered both his feet and he landed on Davis' chest. The anchor–jack then bent down and a pulse of energy sent both men away from each other. Kick Hopper landed back on his side of the field, while Davis was sent into the flames.

"GAAAAH!" Davis shouted as the pain engulfed him. As he staggered forward, Punch hopper landed in front of him punched him in the gut. Just like Kick Hopper before him, the anchor–jack reacted and sent of pulse of energy through his fist, allowing him to land a several more blows before jumping back. Unlike last time, Davis spat out blood and fell onto both knees.

**Davis:** 150

**Narutaki: **550

"Davis!" everyone shouted. The boy was clutching his chest and he was panting heavily. After a few more seconds he coughed up more blood.

"This is bad," Rachel gasped. There was a lot more worry in her than she thought she had for him at the moment. "We need to go save him!"

"That's it!" Jaden shouted getting up from his seat, obviously angry. "No one does that to my friend and gets away with it!" He ran towards the purple flames but was bounced back by it and Jaden flew back hitting the ground.

"Jaden!" Syrus cried out running over to him.

"I'm sorry, but as I said, boy, these flames will only die out when one of us wins!" Narutaki explained.

"Guys," Syrus stated as he looked at his friend in Obelisk Blue. "I don't think Davis is doing so well." The group looked back on their friend as they saw him on his hands now as he tried to stop from coughing up more blood.

"This is so not lishus," Chumley said as they watched their friend in pain. Unlike the students, Prof. Banner was silent not saying anything, but he was really worried.

"Hahahahahaha!" Narutaki laughed. "How does it feel Davis? How does it feel to be in pain? Don't worry though; this will be all over soon. When I win, I'll take your Avengers to add to my dark Bartmen and other villains I created." Everyone gasped at this.

"You… created them?" Davis got out trying real hard not to cough out more blood.

"Yes. I suppose I should tell you now. I worked with your mother on the Avengers Project. I thought that the cards your mother was producing were too weak and unimpressive. I wanted to make cards with more power and stronger effects, thinking it would make them more famous and popular. But what happens, my idea got turned down because they thought of my idea 'unsuitable' for the game. Your mother and I clashed on it for days on end until I left the project to start my own. Thus, the villains were born."

"That explains one question." Jaden commented.

"And with that said, when I take your Avengers, I'll be even more powerful than ever! Power and cunning are all that's needed for Duel Monsters! Who _cares_ about skill?!"

"Power…? Cunning…?" Davis gasped out through the pain. "You think skill means nothing?" Slowly he made it to his feet. "If skill meant nothing, then Yugi Moto, Joey Wheeler, and Seto Kaiba would've not been considered three of the best Duelists in the world! Power and cunning are nothing with the skill to wield it properly!" Davis shouted, even though he coughed up more blood. "The Avengers used their skills and talent to win their battles, battles against the villains themselves! They are what put them in such high places!"

"What are you going on about child?"

"I'll show you what it means to have skill… and heart in Duel Monsters! Draw!" All time seemed to slow down as he did so. When he looked at it, his eyes widened at what he got.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"What?!" Narutaki yelled starting to grow nervous.

"He called it!" Rachel exclaimed.

"He's got this won! Narutaki is going down this turn!" Jaden cheered. "Get 'em Davis!"

Davis nodded at this. "I play the card I drew! Dark Hole! This destroys all Monsters on the Field!"

"NO!" Narutaki yelled.

"Guys… sorry to do this, but…"

_"It's okay Davis…"_ Shannon assured.

_"Don't worry about us."_ Luffy said.

_"Do what you need to do."_ Bart nodded. Davis nodded as a black vortex opened up and sucked in all the monsters into the black vortex.

"And with no Monsters on the Field, Davis just has to summon a strong enough Monster to take out Narutaki's Life Points!" Syrus cheered.

"Now I summon Nova in ATK mode!" Davis said playing his last lone card. The cosmic armored hero appeared glowing bright (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000).

"He's got this!" Jaden cheered.

_"Let's finish this!"_ Nova yelled as he flew towards Narutaki as blue energy flowed through his body. When his attack connected with Narutaki's body, Sam took a moment to glare at the man before clashing into him. He was thrown back into the fire as his Life Points dwindle down to zero.

**Davis:** 150

**Narutaki:** 0

* * *

The purple flames disappeared, the duel disks deactivated, and Sam disappeared. As soon as that happened, Davis started to collapse, but before he felt the cold ground on his face, he felt someone catch him. As he tilted his head up, he found Rachel staring down at him with great concern in her eyes, almost to the point of tearing up while his friends and Professor Banner gathered around him.

"Thanks," he told her.

"We have to get you to the infirmary," she told him.

"No, not yet." His eyes glared at Narutaki who tried to stand up. "I need to speak with that bastard. I need to know more about what happened between him and my mother."

Rachel then helped Davis up and just as the two started to approach him, Narutaki started laughing. "What's up with _him_?" Jaden asked.

"This doesn't feel right," Davis mentioned.

"You may have defeated me Davis, but this is not over just yet," Narutaki stated as he now stood up. "I will have your cards soon enough." He pulls out a smoke pellet from his sleeve and threw it on the ground hard. White smoke puffed out of the pellet and the smoke cleared, Davis and the others saw no trace of Narutaki was left there.

"Damn… he got away again…" Davis said but then coughed out a little more blood.

"We'll worry about him later, for now let's concentrate on getting you back to the infirmary." Professor Banner said. _'And as_ soon _as we get there, I'll have to call the entire faculty for an emergency meeting. I know Chancellor Sheppard will not like this at all.' _He added in his thoughts. Everyone nodded and everyone slowly went back to the Academy with Rachel helping Davis walk and Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley carrying the unconscious Torrey and the other two Obelisks.


	10. Chapter 10: Home Running!

In celebration of the 10th chapter, there is also the intro to my first fanfic. It will be there for now on as the story goes and yes I don't own it. Enjoy.

Chapter 10: Home Running!

A day after the Jinzo and Narutaki incident, Professor Banner called Chancellor Sheppard about what happened to Davis. After receiving the call, Sheppard called the entire faculty and arranged an emergency meeting via video chat. The faculty included Chancellor Sheppard, Professor Banner, Professor Sartyr, Dr. Crowler, and Miss Fontaine.

"I'm sorry for bringing you all in so abruptly, but Professor Banner has brought it to my attention that Davis was targeted by Narutaki again," Sheppard explained. "Twice now he's snuck onto the island and immediately targeted Mr. Davis Eitoku for his cards." Everyone but he and Professor Banner, gasped at this.

_"Is he okay?"_ Miss Fontaine asked worriedly from one screen.

_"He's fine, but barely." _Professor Banner answered on another.

_"Where is Narutaki?! Let me at him! No one harms my Obelisk students and gets away with it!"_ Crowler yelled from a third screen. Guess he might have change of heart for Davis now that he's in Obelisk Blue now.

_"Unfortunately, he escaped before we had a chance to catch him."_ Banner answered making Crowler be a bit miffed. _"What's more, however, is that we learned that Narutaki used to be one of the workers of the Avenger Project Davis' mother worked on. They argued on the idea of the cards, so Narutaki left the project to start his own and thus he created this dark Bartmen/ villain deck, somewhat similar to Davis'. __My only concern now is how we'll protect Davis from him."_

_"Well, of course we'll have to enhance our security and patrols for the D.A.S."_ Miss Fontaine replied. _"We can't allow such brazen attacks against our students! It's our duty as teachers not only to educate our students but protect them while they're under our care!"_

_"I agree,"_ Professor Satyr nodded. _"What is Señor Eitoku's condition now?"_

_"Well, it could've been a lot worse but it was pretty bad,"_ Banner shook his head. _"Narutaki has the ability to create Shadow Games. __Those villains are absolutely vicious in battle. He's still bedridden, but he's stable. Give him some rest and food and he'll be dueling fit in no time."_

"It seems Narutaki is capable of getting on and off the island at his leisure," Sheppard frowned. "If that's the case, he likely knows all of the docking points on the island as well as the security measures we take to ensure the safety of our school and students. Somehow, he got that information."

Crowler silently gulped, remembering that it was _he_ who hired him to come to the island in the first place. He had given the man that information so he could arrive and wander the island unnoticed so to complete his job.

"But that doesn't matter at the moment," Sheppard continued. "As of now, I am ordering the D.A.S to start focusing on any holes that our security systems might have. I want all of you to review the security around each of your dorms and fill out a report on any areas that may need improvement and suggestions on how that may be done."

_"That will be a long report,"_ Banner sighed. It was no secret that his dorm was by far the shabbiest and the least secure.

_"In the meantime, I'll leave for the island right away." _Miss Fontaine said. _"After all, I _am_ the school nurse."_

_"I shall depart as well."_ Sartyr added. _"Even though Davis is Obelisk Blue, he was a former Ra Yellow, and as his former Headmaster, I'll do whatever I can to help."_

_"I'll go as well."_ Crowler got in. _"He's one of my Obelisks, and I'm_ certainly _not taking _this_ lying down."_

"Good," Sheppard nodded. "Dismissed."

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

** omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!  
**

A week later, Davis was feeling almost better. Turns out that a couple of days at the infirmary and a couple more for rehab were all it of now, the school's doors are re–opened to the students and as of now, Davis was clear to go. Well, not exactly. He and his class were in the gym playing tennis. Although, Davis was not playing. Miss Fontaine wanted to him relax for just one more day before he can play sports again. After all, you can't be too careful. Davis was sitting in the bleachers watching his classmates play tennis. Jaden and Syrus were playing against Jasmine and Mindy while Alexis was going against Rachel.

"Man… this is boring… I can't just sit and do nothing…" Davis sighed. At that point, Stinger appeared.

_"I know, but we're not taking any chances on your recovery."_ Cassie said.

"Right, right," Davis sighed.

_"Just try to relax okay? Take it easy."_ May advised as she appeared. _"That fight with Narutaki really has taken its toll on you."_

"_And think of it this way,"_ Felecia offered her two cents. _"You get to watch Rachel and her friends work out in those lovely tennis uniforms. Blue is certainly her color."_

_"_Ugh… shut up, Felecia." Davis groaned.

* * *

Meanwhile, Syrus and Jaden were having trouble against the Obelisk girls. Well mostly Syrus, Jaden was just frustrated with playing the game altogether.

"Come on, would someone tell me what does tennis have to do with dueling?" He asked as Syrus returned the ball.

"Everything!" Mindy replied. "Taking turns, thinking on your feet and the more you play…" She paused for a moment to hit the ball in the air, heading right for Jaden. "…the better you'll do!"

"In that case…" Jaden leaped into the air to deal a powerful strike, but at a bad angle as the tennis ball curved away from the court he was at to the neighboring one, and it was about to hit someone… and Davis noticed.

"Rachel! Watch out!" Davis yelled.

That was when a blur came from one of the other courts and appeared in front of Rachel, swinging a blue racket which smashed the incoming tennis ball away with impressive force. But the ball was going for... Davis!

"WAUGH!"

*BONK!*

Meanwhile, the one who blocked the shot was now visible, a young man with brown hair wearing a tennis uniform made for Duel Academy, landing a few inches in front of Rachel.

"Thank you…" Rachel said in half–surprise to the guy in front of her.

"Rachel!" Jasmine and Mindy came over to check on her. "You almost got creamed, are you okay?"

"Yeah, would you like me to carry you to the nurse?" The brown–haired guy said, turning to face the girls, flashing Jasmine and Mindy a grin… which ensnared them right off the bat.

"No thanks, I'm fine." Rachel politely answered.

"Davis!" Alexis cried out as she noticed what happened to him.

Davis was on the ground clutching his coconuts and grunting in pain. "ssssshhhhh...ahhhhhh...ssshhhh...aahhhh...sssshhhh...aaaahhhh...sssshhhhh"

"Huh?" Rachel blinked, turning to the source of the noise. She immediately spotted Davis there making that noise. "Oh my gosh!" Rachel gasped, running to see if Davis was okay. He had just gotten out of the infirmary! He didn't need yet another injury put onto him!

_"Pow! Right there!"_ Bartman OOO laughed.

_"Shut up Bart. No one should have to suffer through that,_" Rocket snapped at her fellow Avenger.

"Davis, you okay? Where does it hurt?" asked Alexis. "Are you coughing up blood again?"

"No…" Davis groaned, curled in a fetal position. "I… think I lost my ability to… (bleep)…"

"…what?" Alexis blinked blushing heavily.

_"Did he say that he lost his balls? I don't get it."_ said Luffy.

_"SNK! BFFFF!"_ Bart snorted at the comment. Luffy still doesn't get things like this.

"Davis!" Rachel cried, reaching the pair and the spirits. Jaden and Syrus weren't far behind. "Are you okay?"

"Unnnngh," Davis groaned. "…why does this hurt so badly…?"

"Can you stand up?" Alexis asked.

"I'll try…" Davis got out.

So with the help of Jaden and Syrus, Davis slowly got up and managed to slowly sit down. Meanwhile, Rachel took a few minutes to go to the infirmary to get an ice pack from there and came back. "Here, put this on ya." Rachel said. Davis put the ice pack between his legs.

"ssssshhhhh...ahhhhhh...ssshhhh...aahhhh...sssshhhh...aaaahhhh...sssshhhhh" Davis got out.

"Man, that's gotta hurt," Jaden winced.

"Yeah, and with a ball that's going Mach five, I don't blame ya." Syrus nodded sympathetically. "Are they still there?"

"I'm gonna… kick his… ass." Davis groaned out.

"Hey? You alright?" The group turned to see the guy that blocked Jaden's shot and hit Davis there.

"Do I _look_ alright to you?" asked Davis.

"Eh heh heh heh heh heh," the guy chuckled in sympathy. After all, no guy purposefully went after 'them' unless they were the dirtiest low down fighters out there. "Sorry about that man. I was just so busy protecting Rachel I wasn't paying attention to where the ball was going. You know what I mean, right? The knight's got to protect the princess after all."

"Excuse me?" Davis asked in confusion.

"Looking out for my first draft pick Rachel of course!" the guy grinned, his teeth actually sparkling in the sun.

"Uh…" Davis got out not sure how to respond.

"Excuse me?" Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Have we met?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. Harrington Rosewood's the name. I'm an Obelisk Blue like you." Harrington smiled.

"Oh," Rachel nodded. "Okay, thanks for the save even if you did smash a tennis ball into my friend."

"No problem."

"Just watch where you're aiming next time…" Davis got out. _"Douchebag." _he thought to himself.

"Right…" Rosewood chuckled sheepishly. "I'll keep that in mind."

Rachel, now in her school uniform, was walking away from the infirmary, once again having to escort Kurogasa there to get him checked up. If he were healthy when he took that hit then he'd just need some ice and walk it off. With his previous condition though, a minor checkup to make sure it wasn't going to lead to anything more serious was a good idea. He didn't want to go, but Rachel could be persuasive when she wanted to be.

"Rachel, I'm going to be fine. I just need to walk it off." Davis assured her.

"And I'm saying it couldn't hurt to have Miss Fontaine do a check," Rachel retorted.

"Right, right," Davis sighed.

"Rachel!"

The pair looked ahead and saw Mindy, Alexis, and Jasmine approaching the pair. Mindy looked like she was so excited she could explode which likely meant that she had a juicy piece of info to share. Jasmine looked a little bit more apprehensive. That in itself was odd since she was just as much of a chatterbox as her friend. Alexis was...well, just usual.

"What is it you two?" asked Rachel.

"We were doing some digging into that total hottie that was checking you out!" Mindy giggled.

"They did the digging, not me," Alexis cut in.

Ignoring her friend, Mindy continued, "And what we found out was pure gold! Harrington Rosewood is the heir to the Rosewood chain of sporting goods stores! He's handsome, rich, suave, and has an oh so yummy body!"

"Best of all, he's _totally_ into you! Can anyone say 'perfect boyfriend'?" Jasmine added.

Davis' eye twitched.

"I dunno," Alexis shook her head as she knows what Davis had in mind. "I don't think Rachel's tastes go for a guy like him."

"Have I ever been wrong about this?" asked Mindy with a huff.

"Well there _was_ that one time in prep school…"

Suddenly, Syrus ran past them, looking very flustered. "Oh man oh man oh man!" He said, dashing back and forth across the hallway. "Where's the lousy tennis team?" He then noticed the Obelisks and started to jog in place. "Alexis, do you know where the tennis team meets?"

"Out on the courts, Syrus." She replied. "Why?"

"The most unfair thing is happening! Dr. Crowler's making the tennis team captain, Harrington Rosewood boss Jaden around as punishment for hitting Davis!" Syrus said before running off again.

"Huh? But it was _Rosewood_ that hit me," Davis frowned.

"We better go and see." Alexis sighed.

"Service!"

At the tennis courts, Rosewood was giving Jaden a major workout plan as he kept serving tennis balls at him with amazing speed. Sure Jaden was able to keep up with him during the first few minutes but he was just about at his limit. Now he was having a hard time keeping up as Harrington kept serving faster serves than Jaden could react most of the time.

"Man… I thought we're just gonna play tennis… not run… speed drills…" Jaden panted. As soon as more tennis balls came in, Jaden continued to hit the tennis balls, despite feeling like his heart about to burst out of his chest. "Man, he's not letting up!" Then as Jaden was going to swing at another serve, he tripped on a stray tennis ball.

"Come on Jaden, no pain, no gain!" Harrington said. "You gotta hustle to build those muscles! You need to sweat to become a threat! If you don't pick up the pace, you'll never win the race!"

"Man and I thought the Paradox Brothers were annoying." Jaden muttered. Out loud, "Alright, enough with the rhyming clichés, I get it!"

"There's no letter 'I' in the word 'Team', Jaden!" Harrington said, making some kind of strange pose. "It's the very first rule in tennis!"

"Even when you're playing singles?" Jaden asked confused with the logic.

"Moving along… I think it's time to work on your forehand and backhand. I think 1000 strokes each should help make tennis more your racquet!" Harrington joked. "Get it? Racquet? Racket?"

Syrus, Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy were currently watching over at the sidelines.

"I get it; this guy's a total nut." Syrus stated. "The clichés, the crazy practicing…"

"You know, now that I think on it, he _is_ a bit obsessive." Jasmine added.

"Let him obsess… over me!" Mindy said, oblivious to the previous two statements.

"Oh Mindy" Alexis groaned while she facepalmed.

Meanwhile, Jaden continued his practice until he swung off–balance, knocking him down, and sending the tennis balls rolling towards two sets of feet that belonged to Rachel and Davis.

"Well…" Jaden said, feeling worn out again. "At least I'm done… on the first ten."

"At least the ball didn't hit me," Davis mumbled. "How you feeling Jay?"

"Tired." Jaden said as he got up from the floor. "That Harrington dude is wearing me thin here."

"He must like making you work like a horse," Rachel told him. Jaden just nodded.

"Let me talk to him, maybe to get off your case a bit," Davis offered.

"Thanks man."

Rachel helped Davis to where Harrington was resting. "Harrington. I need to talk to you," Davis shouted.

"Oh, what do you need my fine man?" Harrington asked. He then proceeded to ignore him for his friend. "Ah and the lovely Rachel. Why are you here?"

"_We_ are here to ask if you can lay off all the hazing you're doing on Jaden," Davis stated, his right eye was twitching in annoyance.

"Excuse me; I was talking to Rachel not you."

"Hey, don't talk to him like that," Rachel said. "He's a good friend of mine."

"Rachel dear, I don't see why you're hanging out with this person. I mean he only got into Obelisk blue recently. It's not fitting for you to be hanging around him."

"Excuse me?" Davis frowned.

"You were a Ra Reject until a little while ago before Miss Fontaine took pity on you," Harrington chuckled dismissively. "You're the lowest rank to us guys on top. Best you know your place and stick with girls on your own level. Rachel belongs with the upper crust… like me!"

"Hey!" Rachel cried with a frown. "Don't argue over me like I'm a possession!"

"Listen you son of a bitch," Davis frowned. "Rachel can hang out with me if she likes. I like having her for company and I want to keep having her around since she's fun to be with and actually cares. And there is nothing you or any of you snobs up in Obelisk Blue can do to change that!"

"Then we'll duel!" Haarrington growled. "The loser of the duel has to give up on Rachel! The winner gets to become her boyfriend!"

"HEY!" Rachel cried.

"Well, I'll duel you just to get you to shut the hell up," Davis frowned. "If Rachel wants a boyfriend, I really doubt she needs boys dueling over her. She just needs to take her pick."

"OK, then you won't be afraid of dueling me?" Harrington questioned.

"Like hell! Anywhere and anytime, pretty boy!"

"Davis, you don't have to do this…" said Rachel. '_Though it is sweet that you're dueling for me. It's like out of Mindy's novels, for some reason!_'

"I have to, Rach. This guy thinks you're a prize to be won. I'm gonna set him straight."

'_Hell Yeah!_' shouted Rocket.

The boys had to hold off while they got Duel Disks and cleared their battle space. It turned out that they were going to use the baseball field as their dueling zone, because Harrington _is_ using a sports-themed Deck. Harrington was standing on the pitcher's mound while Davis was at home plate. Both had their Duel Discs strapped on and both looked ready for a fight. Rachel was on the sidelines, ready to cheer for Davis. Of course, this might be her chance to try and make some progress on the boyfriend front in regards to her former Ra Yellow/ current Obelisk Blue crush.

"Get ready to be hit out of the park!" Harrington grinned.

"Spare me" Davis sighed.

"DUEL!"

**Davis:** 4000

**Harrington:** 4000

"'I'll start this off!" Davis declared as he drew his sixth card. "I play Double Summon letting summon twice this turn! So now I summon Rocket and Felecia in ATK mode!" The catgirl (4/ATK:1400/DEF:1200) and the technolgical Avenger (4/ATK:1550/DEF:1400) appeared.

_"Ready to show this fool how to really respect girls?"_ Felecia asked turning to Davis.

"You bet. And he's gonna learn the hard way." Davis nodded. "But not until next turn since I went first."

_"Not to worry. We'll get him soon."_

_"But don't let your anger blind you."_ Raquel advised.

"I know…" Davis muttered to himself. Out loud, "I'll end there with a facedown! Let's see what you got pretty boy!"

"Heh! Kid's stuff!" Harrington laughed. He then drew his card. "First, I'll put two cards facedown before I play one monster face down in defense position. After that, I'll hand it over to you."

"Gee, that move just screamed expert," Davis huffed as he drew a card. "Okay, I'll first play a card face down. Next I'll summon Ben 10 to the field!" The said hero appeared (4/ATK:1600/DEF:1500). "And then I activate his special ability, which lets me put him back into my Deck and replace him with an "Omnitrix" monster. So I choose Crashhopper!"

When Ben used that ability, in his place was a new alien. It was really a grasshhopper-like being with the Omnitrix symbol on its stomach (4/ATK:1700/DEF:1000).

"Now Crashhopper will attack your facedown card! And when he attacks a DEF positioned monster, he does piercing damage!" Davis explained.

_"Here I come!" _Ben said as he charged forward with his head, literally. He really crashed into the card. It was only there for a moment, revealing a turtle with what seemed to be a UFO on its back. The monster groaned before it shattered into holographic shards and vanished.

**Davis:** 4000

**Harrington:** 3500

"Oops! You got my UFO Turtle!" Harrington laughed. "Now I get to summon a Fire attribute monster that has 1500 attack points or less. So, I pick the Ultimate Baseball Kid!"

In place of the turtle, a kid wearing a red baseball uniform and holding a spiked metal bat appeared. His bat was resting on the ground and he had a catcher's mitt on, indicating that he was in defense mode (3/ATK:500/DEF:1000).

"Well, then Felecia will take him out!" Davis continued.

"I don't think so!" Harrington countered. "I'll play Negate Attack to stop your batty monster from destroying my Baseball Kid. Secondly, I'll play the magic card Inferno Reckless Summon! This lets us both summon all copies of a monster on our fields. I pick the Baseball Kid!"

"I don't have any copies of any of my monsters on me now so go ahead," Davis answered.

In flashes of light, there were three Baseball Kids on Harrington's side of the field while the three Avengers were on Davis' side. As the two new Baseball Kids swung their bats in practice though, their attack points jumped straight up!

Ultimate Baseball Kid x3: (3/ATK:500 - 2500/DEF:1000)

"Surprised?" Harrington asked with a grin. "My Baseball Kids get 1000 attack points for every other Fire aligned monster on the field! It's a surprising ability that let me beat lots of opponents like you!"

Davis grimaced. Harrington had him outmatched in power. "I'll set this card facedown and end my turn," said Davis.

"My turn," Harrington grinned as he drew his next card. "Okay, I'll switch my one Baseball Kid into attack mode," The Kid in question took off his catcher's mitt and picked up his bat, taking the same position of the other two. Now all three were ready to attack and they had the power to take down all three of Davis' monsters in fell swoop. "For my next trick, I'll summon my pal, Battle Footballer!" In a flash, there was a robot standing who looked like a cyborg football player. Even though it looked like it was supposed to be on a football field, it looked intimidating enough for this fight (4/ATK:1000/DEF:2100).

"He won't be staying long though since I'm going to send him to the graveyard," Cameron explained. The machine vanished in a haze of light. "When I do that, my Baseball Kids use their second special ability! Hit some home runs boys!"

The three Baseball Kids eyes seemed to alight with fire as they reached into their pockets and pulled out baseball-sized bombs. Tossing the bombs up, the Baseball Kids hit the bombs and launched them like a true athlete. The projectiles rocketed past the Avengers before exploding near Davis himself.

"Wagh!" Davis cried as the impact shook him.

**Davis:** 2500

**Harrington:** 3500

"Davis!" Rachel gasped.

"Hey, he's okay," Harrington laughed. "Don't worry about him Rachel. Instead, why don't you worry about what you're going to wear on a date with a real man like me?"

"Can you please shut the hell up?" Davis asked as the smoke cleared. His life points started going down as the mess from the attack fades away. "So your Baseball Kids pack a punch."

"You should see them in battle!" Davis laughed. "Baseball Kids, attack those wimpy monsters! Spiked Grand Slam!"

The three Baseball Kids raised their weapons and charged at the Avengers with the intent of creaming them all in a single swing, "Not so fast! I activate Rocket's special ability! I can negate the attacks and gain Life Points equal to the attacking monster's ATK!" Davis announced.

With that said, Raquel stood forward and created a force field that absorbed the attack of one of the Kids.

**Davis:** 5000

**Harrington:** 3500

_"Glad you had me, huh Davis," _Raquel asked.

"Yeah." Davis replied.

"Eh, so this goes on for one turn longer and you now have more Life Points now," Harrington shrugged. "No big deal."

"Sometimes a turn can change the outcome of a game. Are you done?"

"Sure, it's your turn. Not like it matters."

Davis drew his next card and he looked at it...

**"THIS IS IT!"**

**BGM: Anything Goes!**

"He called it!" Jaden cheered. "Harrington's done!"

"I'll play Double Summon. So I summon Bartman OOO and sacrifice Felecia to summon J2!" Davis announced.

Felecia vanished to be replaced by a tall man in silver armor (6/ATK:2400/DEF:3200) and the silhouette of a man appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. He took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor. Becoming Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"Then I activate OOO's special ability. He gains 100 ATK and DEF for every monster on the Field and I count seven. Bart, do your thing!" Davis shouted.

_"Right!"_ Bart took out his Medal Scanner before swipes it onto his belt for a finisher.

Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000–2700/DEF: 2000-2700)

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

He then jumped and, as three circles corresponding to his Medals appear, went through them before ending with a powerful kick at one of the kids, destroying it in the process.

**Davis:** 5000

**Harrington:** 3200

"If I can recall, you now have two Baseball Kids now, which means they're getting weaker!" Davis stated.

"NO!" Harrington cried.

Ultimate Baseball Kid x2: (3/ATK:2500 - 1500/DEF:1000)

"Then J2 and Crashhopper will take care of the other two! Let them have it!" Davis ordered.

_"You heard the man, Zane. Let's go!" _Ben said as he headbutt into the second Kid, destroying it as well.

**Davis:** 5000

**Harrington:** 3000

_"OK!" _J2 said he charged into the last Kid and gave a powerful punch at it, with the same thing happened to the last two.

**Davis:** 5000

**Harrington:** 1100

"No way!" Harrington cried. "My A-team!"

"And let's not forget about Rocket! Finish him!" Davis commanded.

"Ulp!" Harrington gulped.

Raquel flew then towards Harrington and charged up her Repulsors. _"Take this!" _Rocket shouted as she shot a barrage of that attack on him.

"EEEK!" Harrington cried as his counter went down.

**Davis:** 5000

**Harrington:** 0

**BGM END  
**

"Game over," Davis grinned as the holograms faded. "Looks like I win."

"Darn it," cursed Harrington. "Guess you win a girlfriend."

"I just won a duel. Whether Rachel wants me to be her boyfriend…is up top her," said Davis. "I just don't like it when people treat my friends like a piece of property to be won in a game." Rubbing the back of his neck, Davis began walking back to his friends. At least he wasn't coughing up blood or curled up in fetal position again.

"Sweet duel Davis!" Jaden cheered.

"Yeah, way to play!" Syrus cheered as well.

"Thanks…" Davis smiled weakly.

"This is so romantic!" Mindy squealed as Davis finally stopped to meet with his friends.

"Yeah…" Davis blushed. "Sorry about that. I just don't like people getting treated like prizes, objects, or personal property. It just feels really shallow when that sort of thing happens. And the people who do it are especially shallow."

"Well, you should still be rewarded," Rachel smiled. A hopeful gleam entered her eyes while a rosy blush took her cheeks. "So how would you like to be my boyfriend for the day?"

"Huh?!" Davis gasped, leaning back. "Did I hear that right?!"

_"This is your chance Davis!"_ Felecia spoke, fading into sight. _"Remember everything I taught you and it will be a night to remember!"_

"Sure did!" Rachel smiled. "And as my _'boyfriend'_, you should take me out someplace nice!"

"Uh… I, uh–" Davis stammered blushing heavily. This was really all too surreal for him. He's practically taking her out on a date since Rachel is going to have some fun with the boyfriend idea. Eventually, Davis calmed down and said, "Well… okay. Where do you wanna go?"

"Well, there are a few nice little areas where we can grab some sweet stuff," Rachel shrugged. "I don't know about you, but gourmet cooking gets old after a while."

"I bet. Well, I think I know the best place to go."

"You do?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, during the first days here, I explored around the island a bit, and there's a seafood shack down at the beach not far from here. It's really nice especially when it's at night when you got paper lamps lit up hanging on the roof of the shack and have outdoor torches lighting up the place too. Sort of like a luau."

"Oh. I didn't hear about that," Rachel blinked, honestly pleasantly surprised.

"Professor Satyr said that he and Banner cooked it up one day to try and bring more seafood to the Slifer Reds since the food budget was a little lacking. The Slifers and Ras love it since it's like having a beach party whenever they want." Davis explained. "I guess with gourmet cooking, no one in Obelisk Blue noticed."

"I guess not. Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Rachel then grabbed Davis' hand and then ran out of his room with him in tow.

* * *

And so, they went over to the beach where the seafood shack and of course, the Slifers and Ras there were more than happy to welcome the Obelisks to the beach party the other two dorms always have. And of course, Professor Banner and Professor Sartyr were there. Everyone had a great time. There was some Hawaiian music to go with it; awesome seafood to eat thanks to Professor Sartyr, heck, even one of the students who was Hawaiian by ethnicity, did a luau fire dance for the crowd. All in all, Davis and Rachel had a great time.

* * *

It was now almost curfew and Davis was taking Rachel back to her dorm. Alexis had to admit that she had a fun time. Despite how 'low–class' the event was in the words of the rich Obelisks, she had more fun there outside of a duel than anywhere else on the island. Professor Satyr was quite the cook and Professor Banner was an exceptional host and was able to tell some good stories at the fireside. The atmosphere was friendly and warm, making conversation easy since the invisible wall between the dorms seemed to vanish there.

"That was fun," Rachel admitted with a smile. "We ought to do that again sometime."

"Well, Satyr and Banner hold them every weekend except around exam times," Davis shrugged. "You know you're welcome."

"I might take you up on that," Rachel agreed as they now stopped at a crossroad with one path leading to the Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm and the other to the Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm. "Well, this is where we parts ways."

"Yep, sure is."

"Before I go though, can I see your Duel Pilot for a minute?" She asked.

"Uh… sure." Davis said taking his Duel Pilot out of his pocket and giving it to her. Rachel then pressed her finger on various parts of the Duel Pilot screen. After several seconds, she handed it back to him. "What'd you do?"

"Oh, I just gave you a small thank you present." Rachel smiled. "See ya later." And with that, she began to walk off.

"Yeah, see ya." Davis waved and with that Rachel left. Wondering what she did, he turned on his Duel Pilot to look at the screen and he was a bit flabbergasted at what he saw. He looked at Rachel walking away and back at his Duel Pilot a couple times. "No way… did she really–" Felecia at that point appeared and looked at the Duel Pilot.

_"Yep, she _did_. She gave you her number. Good job, my apprentice, you've done well." _Felecia said as she disappeared. Davis just stood there for a while, trying to take this all in. And then, the next words in his mind practically says it all.

_'Best. Day. Ever!'_


	11. Chapter 11: Newbie

Chapter 11: Newbie

It was the early morning at the Slifer dorm, as the Slifer Students were eating their breakfast. Banner stepped inside the mess hall with something important to say…

"Children, please quiet down, I have an announcement to make! Eyes forward please! Chumley, stop chewing with your mouth open!" Banner paused as every Slifer in the mess hall stopped talking or chowing down on their breakfast before moving to the side, "Good, now everyone, please join me in welcoming a new transfer student," he paused again as a short boy wearing a large hat walked out from behind a counter and joined him by his side, "Blair Flannigan."

Everyone looked at the new kid in the Slifer Red blazer. Blair was shorter than even Syrus, had brown eyes, and he could see tufts of purple hair sticking out from under the cap. Not to mention he's wearing the Slifer Jacket.

"I had to stop chewing for some transfer student?" Chumley complained.

Syrus sighed as he got a better look at the shorter kid. Besides the hat, Blair wore these gray pants that seemed too small for him, because they went well above the ankles. "He's shorter than me, dresses goofier than me…" Syrus lowered his head, "My sidekick days are over…"

"Aw be nice, you guys!" Jaden rose up from his seat between Chumley and Syrus, "Blair, welcome to S–L–I–F–…uh…something, Slifer!" He half–yelled, raising his arms to the ceiling. Blair looked at Jaden with a raised eyebrow. It didn't stop Jaden from getting up from the table and running up to the new kids. "This is the best dorm on campus, I mean sure we're not a bunch of snobby, uptight, egghead straight–A gettin' brainiacs, but still…"

"Jaden, wait a moment…" Banner interrupted him, "You don't understand."

Jaden grinned as he pulled the small boy to him, "What's _not_ to understand, Professor Banner? I'm just…" Blair wrenched himself free of Jaden and hid behind Banner, peeking out at the others. "Trying… to make… Blair… feel at home…"

Banner sighed, "You see, this isn't Blair's home, as least not for long. Nearly all of his entrance exam scores were perfect. It is policy that when a transfer student comes to Duel Academy, they must start out in Slifer Red," Banner explained slowly, "But with Blair's test scores, he'll most likely advance to Ra Yellow in just a few days…"

"Say wha?" Jaden asked.

"Well then Blair, you can take the single room on the first floor." Banner informed the transfer. "Now why don't you say hello to your fellow Slifers?"

Blair cleared his throat and said, "Hello," in a low voice, barely being heard.

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

**omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

* * *

At the Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm, Davis was sleeping peacefully in his bed comfortable in his blanket. When the sun's ray hits his eyes, he slowly opened them up adjusting to the light.

"Let's get ready." Davis said to himself as he stretched before getting ready.

* * *

After breakfast, all students of the Slifer, Ra and Obelisk dorms gathered in the main greeting hall for a special announcement. Most of them were talking amongst each other about things known to them. Soon, Chancellor Sheppard's face appeared on the big monitor ready to give out the news.

**"Settle down everyone. Attention please…"** He addressed the students. **"Chumley! Stop chewing with your mouth open!"**

"Awww…" The koala duelist whined putting away his grilled cheese. "Not here, too…"

**"Now, everyone. For those who don't know, there are some big matches coming up for the School Duel–Off. Last year, our very own top student, Zane Truesdale won, and this year we hope to win again…"**

Syrus noticed Blair looking at Zane leaned over, "Hey, Blair, did ya know that Zane's my big brother?" he whispered.

"Really?" Blair turned to him, eyes wide in surprise.

Syrus nodded, "Yeah, he's pretty cool, but Mom says I got the looks," he said casually with a shrug.

**"Now, we already have Davis and Rachel of Obelisk Blue representing the Tag Team division, but we're still debating on who will be representing us for our Singles Division at the School Duel–off, as we've come to call it. As usual, our school will be going against North Academy this year for a special prize****!"** Everyone murmured in excitement.

"Awesome! How sweet is that!?" Jaden said excited.

**"So if you keep hitting those books and duel hard, ****_you_**** may be the one who gets the honor of being in the Singles Division!"** The screen cut off as the students started talking amongst themselves again.

"Alright! Hear that?" Jaden half–shouted, coming between Blair and Syrus, "It could be _me_!"

Syrus huffed and folded his arms, "Or it could be me, but let's face it, Jaden…," he glanced at his older brother, "It'll probably be Zane,"

"Because he's amazing…" Blair said quietly and Jaden could've sworn he saw his face turn a little red. Davis also noticed it too.

* * *

"Amazing?" Jaden scratched his head as he, Syrus, and Chumley walked into the courtyard after the assembly, "It's not about being amazing, it's about being the best!"

"He _did_ beat you in a duel, Jay," Syrus reminded him.

"Yeah, and it was a close match too." Chumley noted.

"That's true." The little Slifer added. "What do you say we just hang around the place since it's a weekend?"

"Sounds good to me." Chumley agreed.

"And we find that transfer kid?" Jaden suggested. "Show him around the place."

"Cool let's go!" The three Slifers set off to their dorm.

* * *

Well, one of them was _already_ doing that. Blair was currently running around campus looking for something… or rather someone. The new smallest Slifer found Zane walking away from the main building. He gasped in surprise, watching him leave thinking he was the coolest thing ever. But when he tried to approach the Kaiser…

"Lookie here, we have ourselves some new meat!" Blair turned around to see Raizou and Torimaki grinning down at him.

"You lost? Cause we'll be happy to show you around." Raizou said.

Torimaki then pulled out two duel disks and threw one at Blair's feet and put the other one and inserted his Deck, turning it on. "After you go through a little beating first." Torimaki said. Blair stumbled upon his feet, trying to make a break for it, but he was stopped by Raizou who cut him off.

"We didn't say you had a choice in the matter…" Raizou smiled smugly.

"Hey!" A new voice said as the three turned to see it was Davis.

"Oh look, it's the Avenger Duelist." Raizou snidely said as he laughed.

"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size!" Davis snapped.

"Why should we?" Torimaki snapped, "You were just as bad as a Slacker."

"Funny the only Slackers I see around here are you two."

"What'd you say?! You call _us_ slackers?!" Raizou snapped. This act, however, started to draw unwanted attention from other students who were coming out from the assembly and soon a small crowd gathered around. Bastion, Rachel and Alexis showed up as well.

"What the heck's going on?" Rachel wondered.

"Don't know, but this could get ugly." Alexis said worried about the new Slifer.

"If you just joined us, I just caught these two schmucks over here picking on this guy." Davis said pointing to Raizou and Torimaki while answering Rachel's question, "So I'm going to beat them down in a duel."

"I just hope he knows what he's doing." Bastion added. "Those two Obelisks used to hang around Chazz. So there's no telling what they'll do."

"Do you know we can crush you in a Duel?" Torimaki asked.

"That's right." Raizou added, "We're good duelists. Actually, Torimaki's good, but I just got better after our last Duel, Eitoku!"

"Funny from what I remembered you two seemed to have bought your way into Obelisk Blue." Davis snidely said, "And you guys are a big joke. To prove that, I'll go against the both of you with both of you sharing the Life Points." The small crowd gasped at this.

"Has he gone mad!?" Bastion asked with great incredulity.

"Well given the crowd standing around us that can either help him prove that point if he wins." Alexis said, "But if he loses he could end up being a laughing stock among the school."

"Then let's hope he wins this Duel." Rachel said.

"Heh, so you want the beating, fine! After we thrash you, we'll come after the little…" Everyone noticed that Blair ran off to who knows where.

"Looks like you won't be able to do that." Davis smirked. However, he did noticed that the new Slifer ran away and was… going to the Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm for some reason. Davis got suspicious, but had to deal with Chazz's former lackeys.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaden and his friends were approaching the dorm when…

"Guys look…" Syrus pointed to the guy they were looking for. Up ahead, Blair was running just out of sight behind a large pillar.

"What's the new kid doing?" Chumley wondered aloud. Jaden frowned, something wasn't feeling quite right. He took off running after the new kid.

"Jaden, where are you going!?" Syrus yelled after him.

Jaden turned and waved back at his friends, "I just gotta check something out!"

* * *

Back to Davis, Torimaki, and Raizou…

All players had their Duel disks on and inserted their Decks into the deck slot. Then they drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Davis:** 4000

**Torimaki/Raizou:** 4000

"I'll start off!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. "I set a monster facedown and place three cards facedown and end my turn." A Set monster and three reversed cards appeared on the Field.

"Heh. That's it? Pathetic! With mine and Raizou's new Deck, you're gonna wish you never faced us!" Torimaki said drawing his sixth card.

"I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Torimaki said playing the card.

"Hold it right there! Activating Mystic Refpanel!" Davis declared revealing the trap and a blue–skinned fairy with a large mirror showing the Pot of Greed appeared. "Now your Pot of Greed will work for _me_ instead of you!" Davis drew two cards. "And I'm sure you could've used these."

"Grr… so what? I summon Vorse Raider in ATK mode!" Kaiba's signature high powered level 4 star Fiend appeared on the Field with his axe blade in tow (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200). "Attack his Life Points directly!" The fiend brandished his blade and slashed at the facedown monster: It was a red knight with two shields on his arms called Ganbara Knight (4/ATK:0/DEF:1800). Unfortunately, that monster just got destroyed.

"Heh… you're not so tough _after _all." Torimaki sneered. "You'll be done in no time. I end my turn."

"Now it's my turn." Davis drew his next card. "I play Double Summon, allowing me to summon two monsters on the field. So come out Wild Thing and Marceline!"

The mutant beserker (4/ATK:2100/DEF:1400) and the vampire (4/ATK:1600/DEF:0) appeared on the field.

_"These two?"_ Laura scoffed._ "Should be a piece of cake!"_

"I know, which why your Vorse Raider's going down! Slice and Dice!" Davis commanded. Laura charged at the Fiend and sliced him up into ribbons with her claws.

**Davis:** 4000

**Torimaki/Raizou:** 3800

"Now Marceline! Go!" Davis shouted.

_"Right on!" _Marceline made a huge leap and slashed at them with her Ax.

**Davis:** 4000

**Torimaki/Raizou:** 2200

"Now I place one card facedown and end my turn." A reverse card appeared on the Field.

"Now it's my go!" Raizou declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon X–Head Cannon in ATK mode!" A blue machine with a spike ball lower region and two cannon barrels on its shoulders appeared. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500) "Take aim and attack that vampire!" Raizou commanded. The blue machine aimed its two long cannon barrels at Marceline.

"It won't be enough! I activate Negate Attack!" Davis countered.

"No!" Raizou cried as X–Head Cannon already fired and a portal appeared as the machine shot it. "Now all the Damage is reduced to 0."

"Grr… I'll end my turn!" Raizou growled.

"It's my turn!" Davis drew his next card.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted.

"That's impossible!" Raizou protested. "You can't call it already!"

"I just did! I summon Bartman OOO in ATK mode!" A silhouette of a man appeared with the OOO Belt and inserted the coins in the driver before scanning them with the scanner. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The images of the three coins, hawk, tiger, and grasshopper formed together into one, moving towards the silhouetted man's chest creating armor and creating OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000). "And next I'll play OOO Roulette! You know the drill! I roll a die and whatever number it lands on, OOO gets a new form! Go, dice roll!" A huge white die appeared and rolled to the ground for a few seconds until it landed on a 1. "Awesome! A one! Now I'll summon Bartman OOO – GataKiriBa Form from my Deck!" Bart switched the first two coins replacing them with a stag beetle and a mantis coin and scanned them.

**STAG BEETLE! ****MANTIS! ****GRASSHOPPER! GATAKIRIBA!**

**GA~TA GATA GATAKIRI–BA! GATAKIRIBA!**

The three images of the stag beetle, mantis, and grasshopper appeared in a column and formed into one, and moved back to OOO's chest. Bart started to turn all green as his helmet now changed into a green helmet with orange lenses that had stag beetle horns. The arms turned green and he has a pair of mantis claw–like swords, and his Hopper legs pretty much stayed the same (8/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2500).

**BGM: Gotta Keep it Real**

"Okay Bart, take that thing down!" Davis ordered.

_"You got it!"_ OOO nodded before taking his O–Scanner and swiping it across his Medals.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

Bart leaped into the air before aiming for a flying kick. His body then flashed before three clones appeared behind him, one kicking off the one in front to increase the force of the attack as he flew down and destroyed the Cannon.

**Davis:** 4000

**Torimaki/Raizou:** 1300

"Now, Laura! Take out Vorse Raider!" Davis commanded. Laura charged at the Fiend and slashed him into pixels.

**Davis:** 4000

**Torimaki/Raizou:** 100

"No way…" Torimaki got out.

"It's as I told you before…" Davis said. "You're the _real Slackers_! Marceline! Finish them!" The vampire flew towards Torimaki and Raizou and swung her Ax and slashed at them, making them scream as it depleted the rest of their Life Points.

**Davis:** 4000

**Torimaki/Raizou:** 0

* * *

The Obelisks that dueled Davis fell to their knees in defeat as the holograms disappeared and the duel disks deactivated. "Whew, that was four Obelisks I had to deal with so far." He said before turning around to see his audience. The audience was just standing there in shock.

"My word," Bastion said still stunned, "He's good."

"He's so tough." A random Obelisk Girl said.

"He's cool." Another spoke.

"I guess I put on quite a show huh." Davis spoke modestly. "Now, if you all excuse me, I gotta check something out." He then ran back to his dorm.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Blair eased his way across a long, thick tree branch that ended just over a balcony at the Obelisk Blue dorm. Quickly and quietly, he jumped off and made his way into the room. Little did he know, that he was being watched by Jaden. _'First Blair makes that weird comment about Zane, now he's sneaking into the Obelisk Blue dorm… something's not adding up…'_ Jaden thought. As he was about to climb the tree, he spotted Davis running towards his dorm.

"Man, where'd that kid go?" Davis wondered as he looked around.

"Davis?" Jaden asked coming up to him.

"Jaden, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Looking for Blair, the new kid. You?"

"Looking for a Slifer that's here other than you I just found."

"That Slifer is Blair and he went up to Zane's room."

"Zane's room?" Davis asked raising his eyebrow as he looked up to where Zane's room was. "Why would he go _there_?"

"That's what _I'm_ trying to figure out."

Davis pondered at this. "Alright, I'll handle it; you head back to your dorm and I'll meet with you to tell you what I find when I'm done." Davis said. Jaden nodded and with that, Davis climbed up the tree and landed on Zane's balcony. He entered the dorm room Blair had entered and he stood there in silence as they watched Blair practically cuddle with a Deck case close to his face.

"What the hell…?" Davis whispered. "This is getting very strange…"

"C'mon guys, let's get upstairs!" Davis turned and looked down to see Zane and a trio of other Obelisks approaching the dorm building.

"Better make this quick." Davis said to himself. He ran into the room where Blair was still cuddling with the Deck. "Blair, what are you doing?"

Blair jumped at the sudden voice and stared at Davis, "Uh–oh! Busted!" She dropped the Deck and started bolting out of the room via window. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion. As he ran, Blair let out a gasp as his hat fell to the floor and a loud click filled the air. Davis turned to see Blair's hair became very long and a frightened look came to his face. Davis couldn't believe what he was seeing! Blair was really a girl!

He gaped, "Whoa! What the–! You… you're… you're uh…," he stopped and watched as Blair grabbed the hat and ran out, leaping onto the branch before sliding down the tree to escape, "Uh… outta here." He then heard the door to Zane's room starting to open. "Oh, crap! Better get out of here too…" He hissed. He bolted for the window and managed to jump off the balcony to get to the branch and climb down safely to be out of sight before the door opened. When he got to the base of the tree, he let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! That was a close one."

_"A little_ too _close I'd say."_ Spidey said as she appeared. _"Who would've thought that Blair was actually a girl?"_

"_I_ sure didn't. Wait until I tell Jaden and the other guys! But first I gotta tell Zane what happened." Davis said as he went back into the dorm. Behind another tree, Blair popped out hearing his talk. "You won't be telling anyone anything…" Blair spoke in a little girl's voice, her real voice…

* * *

Later that night, Alexis walked along the dock, headed straight for the lighthouse where Zane, waiting for her. Rachel and davis was there too with the latter, having a backpack in tow for some reason. "Wow, a cold, wet dock in the middle of the night…" Alexis said sarcastically.

"Yeah, you two sure do know how to show us girls a good time." Rachel added.

Zane ignored the sarcasm, "Lex, Rachel, check this out." Zane held out an open palm, showing them a wooden barrette with a cute Duel Monster on it.

Alexis eyed the piece of jewelry and turned to her friend, "Okaay, that's a _girl's_ hairclip…" she said slowly.

"Was someone from the girls' dorm there with you?" Rachel asked.

"Davis will tell you from here."

"Remember the smaller Slifer with the large that ran off before I dueled Torimaki and Raizou?" Davis took over. "His, or rather _her_ name is Blair. She's was sneaking into Zane's room and I followed her and she bolted out before I could do anything else."

"Why would she be in your room Zane?" Alexis asked.

"And why go through all that trouble?" Rachel asked.

"Dunno. That's why we're going to be asking her."

"Well, I'm gonna go there anyways and tell Jaden what's going on. Meet me over there." Davis said and then ran off.

* * *

A few minutes later…

Davis ran until he saw the Slifer Red Dorm ahead of him. He went up the stairs to the second floor and to Jaden's door and knocked on it. "It's open!" Jaden called from his room. Davis opened the door to see Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Victor, and Blair with her large hat on.

…

…

…

Wait a minute, Blair?!

"Oh hey Davis." Jaden greeted.

"Ah! You!" Blair shouted pointing at the Obelisk. Blair then immediately ran and yanked Davis, who couldn't react quickly, out of the room leaving the remaining Slifers really confused on what's happening. Blair led Davis to the shore where Jaden and Syrus once dueled and stopped there.

"Okay, Blair what's going on here? What were you doing sneaking into Zane's room all of a sudden and cuddling with his Deck?" Davis asked.

"Listen, Davis. The fact that I'm a girl has to remain a secret." Blair said.

"What for though Blair?" She didn't answer. "I mean, sure I know you have your reasons, but if I'm gonna keep a secret, I'm gonna have to at least know why it _is_ one."

"No!" Blair persisted. "You _don't_ need to know why. Nobody does. You got that?"

"Whatever." Davis said as he reached into the backpack and pulled out two duel disks. "But if you're not gonna tell me, you're gonna at least have to duel me." Davis gave one of them to Blair.

"What? A duel? How would _that_ solve anything?"

"A duel always brings out the truth. It'll tell me everything I need to know."

"Fine, I'll tell you if you win. If _I_ win though, you're gonna have to keep quiet." Blair said.

Up from above, Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley were eavesdropping on the conversation, but they couldn't hear well.

"Did you get any of that?" Jaden asked.

"No. I don't know what they're talking about down there." Syrus asked.

Chumley shrugged, "Me neither, but it must be pretty serious."

"I'll answer that for you." A voice said. The four Slifers turned to see Alexis, Zane, and Rachel walk up to them. "Blair's not really a guy, she's a girl." Zane explained. "The Obelisk Blue security cams caught her sneaking around Zane's room."

"What the cameras _didn't_ show is why Blair went through all that trouble," Alexis added, looking at the two people below.

"Well, it looks like we're gonna find out. Because they're about to duel." Rachel said making everyone turn back towards below. Both players had their duel disks on and had their Decks in place ready to go. Both players drew their starting Hand.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Blair:** 4000

**Davis:** 4000

"Alright!" Blair drew her sixth card, "Get ready to fall in love! I summon Maiden in Love!" A young girl with long brown hair and a flowing yellow dress came to the field. She had a dreamy expression on her face like she was in love. (2/ATK: 400/DEF: 300)

"She's cute!" Syrus exclaimed. Chumley grumbled a bit, while Jaden was just oblivious.

"Alright then, my draw!" Davis drew his sixth card. "I summon Reptil in ATK mode!" The dino hero appeared, ready to fight (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200). "Humberto, attack Maiden in Love!"

_"You got it!"_ Humberto said as he grew an ankylosaur's tail and whipped at the Maiden. It hit the girl making her fly back a few feet. But for some reason, she's still there.

**Blair:** 2700

**Davis:** 4000

"You may have broken her heart, Davis, but she lives to love another day!" Blair said. "You see, as long as she's in ATK Mode, her ability keeps her from being destroyed in battle!"

_"Uh… Davis, you might wanna look."_ Bart said as he appeared pointing in a direction.

"What's wrong?" Davis asked as he looked. But then he suddenly freaked out when he saw Humberto kneeling beside the Maiden.

**"H–Hey, you alright?"** Humberto asked the poor Maiden.

**"Maybe, maybe not,"** she replied, looking away sheepishly.

Davis stepped back, "WHAT?!" He shrieked. "Humberto, what are you doing?! You're supposed to be in ATK mode, not in love!"

"Looks like we've got some competition," Syrus murmured to Chumley, who was also looking on at the Maiden.

"Are you seeing this Rachel?" Jaden asked. He was seeing what Davis was seeing.

"Yep. _I_ sure am. Pret–ty freaky." Rachel said. Apparently, _she_ can too.

"Aw great, Humberto's in love. Could this get any worse?" Davis groaned.

Blair hummed playfully, "Actually, it could…" She said, "You see, my Maiden has another effect. Whichever monster attacks her gets a Maiden Counter!" She explained as her Maiden blew a kiss towards Humberto, as a small pink heart appeared on his chest.

"A Maiden Counter?" Davis wondered.

She wagged a finger, "You'll find out…" she replied in the same voice, "But moving on now," She drew her next card and looked at her hand, then inserted a card into the slot beneath her monster, "I play the Equip card Cupid's Kiss to my Maiden!" Both players and their audience watched as a small cherub with a bow flew into view and kissed the Maiden on the cheek. "Now… I'll have her attack!"

The Maiden ran out to the other side of the field like a slow–motion love scene, **"Oh Mr. Reptil, come out come out wherever you are! I wanna give you a hug,"** She called out.

Humberto, surprised by what she was doing, stepped aside and watched as the Maiden fell to the ground. She slowly sat up and looked at him sadly, **"Why did you do that?"** she took her face into her hands and began to cry, **"You're so mean!"**

**"Whoops. Sorry, _señorita_. It was an accident."**

The Maiden smiled and blew a kiss at him, **"Ok,"** With Humberto's help, she climbed to her feet, **"Now, will you do me a little favor?"** she asked sweetly.

**"Uh… sure."**

**"Good, see him?"** she pointed to Davis, **"Take him down!"**

**"Grroooowwwrr!"** Humberto then charged towards Davis and attacked him with his Raptor claws, making him moved back a few feet.

Davis managed to get back from the attack, "Humberto! What are you doing?! Snap out of it! Can't you see she's just using you?!"

"She can use me _any_ time!" Syrus said.

_'I never felt this way without a grilled cheese…'_ Chumley thought.

Blair giggled as Humberto came to her side of the Field, alongside the Maiden, "Sorry Davis, but when my Maiden takes Damage from a Monster that has a Maiden Counter, the Equip Spell Cupid's Kiss activates! That allows me to take control of one your Monster, and sure, it costs me some Life Points, but it's about to cost you a lot more!"

**Blair:** 1400

**Davis:** 2300

She looked through her hand and picked a card from it, "Well, since I've taken control of your only Monster, I'll place these three cards face down and end my turn," she said, inserting the cards into her disk.

"Geez… this is the weirdest duel, I've ever been in." Davis drew his next card. _'Okay, so what do I have?'_ Davis thought as he looked at his Hand to consider his options. _'I gotta do something about this fast, otherwise I'm gonna lose.'_ Out loud, "Alright for my move, I'll summon Nova in ATK mode!"

The cosmic hero appeared (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000).

"Nova, set Humberto straight and attack now!"

_"You got it!_" Sam said as he flew towards Humberto.

Blair pressed a button on her disk as Nova came close to her, "I don't think so! I play the Spell Rush Recklessly on my Maiden and the Trap card Defense Maiden!"

Maiden in Love (2/ATK: 400–1100/DEF: 300)

To Davis', Humberto's and even Sam's surprise, the Maiden in Love stepped in just as he came and took the full hit, enduring a best she could. "See? Defense Maiden redirects his attack from Reptil to my Maiden, so that she gets hit instead," Blair explained as her points went down, "And you know what that means…"

**Blair:** 700

**Davis:** 2600

**"Oh crap!"** Sam said as he was distraught seeing a lady hurt and went over to her. **"I'm so sorry for attacking you. Are you alright?** **Please, forgive me! I'll do anything, even beating the crap out of my owner!"**

"Hey!" Davis retorted, after hearing that last part.

The Maiden looked at him,** "Well, I can't think of anything right now, but I'm sure something will come to mind later,"** She said, winking at him.

**"Just say the word!"** He declared, as a small pink heart appearing on his chest.

"Damn it… not Sam too…" Davis groaned. "He's get a Maiden Counter too."

Syrus smiled as he and Chumley looked down at the Maiden, "I want one! How do _I_ get a Maiden Counter?"

"Yeah me too, I want one too!" Chumley nodded in agreement.

"Uh… guys, you do realize that she's just a card, right?" Alexis asked.

Zane chuckled, "Try and remember who you're talking to," he murmured, "When we were growing up, Syrus kept saying he was going steady with the Dark Magician Girl." Syrus felt embarrassed at that comment.

"Really now?" Rachel asked with a grin. "I mean, I've heard of card crushes, but 'going steady'? That's a first."

"Sy, did she break your heart?" Alexis asked teasingly, "Or did you decide to see other Monsters?"

"This is pretty freaky." Jaden said.

"Urgh… I'll place a face down and end my turn." Davis groaned as he placed a reversed card on the Field.

"Alright, here I go!" Blair drew her next card, "I activate my facedown, the Equip Spell card, Happy Marriage! Now my Maiden gains as many Attack Points as Reptil has… that is, if he says 'I do' of course!" The Maiden changed her wardrobe from her yellow dress to that of a white wedding dress with flowers on it. She took hold of Reptil's arm and looked up at him.

Maiden in Love (2/ATK: 400–2100/DEF: 300)

"Now, let's have her pay a visit to Nova!"

_"Aw crap…"_ Sam grumbled as the Maiden did her attack on him, destroying him in the process.

**Blair:** 700

**Davis:** 2300

**"C'mon, hubby!"**

**"Yeah!"**

Humberto charged at Davis and did his attacks, which made Davis slide back a few feet.

**Blair:** 700

**Davis:** 600

Happy at her progress, Blair took off her hat and untied her bandanna, letting her long hair fall. She sighed happily, "I'm sorry, but you can't beat me, Davis. I'm dueling for love!"

"Dueling for love?" Zane frowned, "Doesn't mean she's dueling _with_ love?"

Alexis rolled her eyes, "Oh c'mon, you mean you haven't figured it out yet? Think about it Zane," she held up some fingers, "She puts on a disguise, tricks her way into our school, and breaks into _your_ room?"

"_She's_ in love!" Rachel realized.

"Big time," Alexis turned back to the duel, "And she's in love with you, Zane."

"Aw man… I shouldn't have put two guys against a girl." Davis groaned in dismay. "Hopefully, the next card I draw will be a girl other than Felecia. Alright then, here goes!" Davis drew his next card making his Hand at five and looked at it. _"Or he works too__."_

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"What?!" Blair flinched.

"There it is! He called it!" Jaden cheered.

"Davis' going to win in this turn." Rachel explained.

"First, I summon Pikachu in ATK mode!" Davis declared as the Pokemon appeared (3/ATK:1100/DEF:700). Now I'll activate Pikachu's special ability! All he can do now is to attack directly!

"Oh no!" Blair gasped.

"That's right! Now Pikachu, finish this off! Use Thunderbolt!"

_"Pika!" _Pikachu nodded as he charged up with enough energy, sending off a powerful lighting bolt at Blair, which depleted her Life Points.

**Blair:** 0

**Davis:** 600

* * *

"Whew!" Davis sighed in relief as the holograms disappeared and the duel disks deactivated. "That was… a weird, but good duel."

Blair sighed and looked at him, "Alright, guess I hafta tell you my secret then…"

"Nope, I already learned a lot during the duel," Davis smiled, looking past her, "And I think our spectators learned something as well." Feeling very nervous, Blair slowly turned her head around to see Zane and the others standing a short ways behind her.

Alexis smiled and glanced at the Kaiser, "Sure did. Love is on her mind Zane…"

Blair got to her feet quickly, "Zane, you're here!" She blushed a little, "I guess you know… I'm the one who snuck into your dorm room," she lowered her head embarrassed. "I've been in love with you ever since I first met you."

"At the Nationals…" Zane nodded at Blair.

"That's right!" Blair lifted her head, "It was right after you won the Championship match, and right then, I made a pledge that I would do anything to be with you! I remember you said that if I trained really, really hard, I can get into Duel Academy like you, and I did!" Blair smiled widely and held out her arms, "Now that I'm here, we can get married!"

Jaden laughed at Blair's declaration, "Get married that's a good one! Your honeymoon can be in the cafeteria and Dr. Crowler can give you away!"

Blair looked at Jaden, "I'm not joking…"

Alexis smiled slightly at her, "Blair, sweetie, love doesn't work like that. You can't sneak your way into someone's heart; just look what happened to your Maiden. She used tricks to get love and she ended up alone and in tears. You can't use spells and disguises to find your soul mate, Blair. You have to be honest and upfront with them."

"Yeah right! You just want Zane for yourself!" Blair snapped and gave her the evil eye, "You're trying to get rid of me!"

Davis laughed at this and Rachel shook her head.

Alexis smiled nervously and backed away, "Zane, a little help please?"

The Obelisk stepped forward, "Blair, as flattered as I am by your affections, right now I'm in love with only one thing: dueling."

"Dueling?" Blair asked as Zane took something out of his pocket. He took her hand and placed the barrette she had lost in his room into her open palm, "I'm sorry, but it's time for you to go home."

Jaden stepped between them as tears came to Blair's eyes, "Hold on, why does she have to go home? Because you said so? Hello! She's a student here at Duel Academy and a good one after seeing that duel!"

"Actually Jaden, she has to go home because Zane says she's in seventh grade." davis did a spit take at that.

"WHAT?!" Davis choked out.

"It's true." Zane nodded.

"Seventh grade?!" Syrus and Chumley shouted.

"Are… you saying I almost lost to an twelve–year old?!" Davis got out.

Blair stuck out her tongue and smiled, "trelve and a half, if that makes you feel better!" Davis then started to feel really embarrassed. "Oh man… I can't believe this…" He groaned squatting while tugging his hair. Everyone laughed at this.

* * *

The next day, they all stood at the docks, watching Blair get on board and to wish her a safe trip back home. "Goodbye, you guys!" She called out, waving to them, "I'll be back just as soon as I finish middle school, but I'll be back!"

Jaden laughed and looked over his shoulder, "Ya hear that, Zane?"

"Please," the Kaiser scoffed, "By the time _that_ happens, I'll be long gone…"

"It's true, it _is_ your last year here." Davis turned back to see the boat move offshore, "I guess Blair's crush ends here, huh?"

Zane chuckled, "Don't be so sure…"

"Goodbye Davis, my sweet Avenger! I love you!" Blair yelled from the boat, making Davis did another spit take.

"She's supposed to like Zane!" he hissed, turning to Alexis, who was holding back a giggle.

"She does like Zane, but apparently she loves _you_…"

Zane chuckled and walked away, "Good luck with that, Davis," Everyone else left as Davis was left alone watching the boat leave.

"Aw man… this sucks…"

_"It looks like you have_ two_ girls you have to worry about."_ Felecia snickered as she appeared. _"Sooner or later, you'll probably end up having a harem and-__"_

"SHUT THE (BLEEP) UP FELECIA!"


	12. Chapter 12: H20 vs Heroes

Chapter 12: H20 vs Heroes

At the loading docks, a certain store owner was directing traffic. "Keep it moving fellas, keep it moving!" Dorothy said as she clapped her hands to about a dozen workers, carrying boxes and trunks from the boat's cargo area to the loading dock. "Booster Packs go there and Starter Decks go there you guys!" She said pointing in two directions. She was about to yell something out again, but a noise made her stop. She turned and looked down at the waves that crashed along the side below. She could've sworn that she had heard something, but it must've been her imagination. Shrugging, she turned back to see the workers had stopped moving the boxes and were now looking at her. "C'mon, I didn't say it was break time! Move it, move it, move it!"

If she had kept her sight down at the water, she would've noticed a dark form moving underneath the waves. The figure made its way past the docks and towards a bed of large rocks. When it came close enough, the figure reached the surface and pulled itself out of the water. The figure was that of a tall man with long hair tied in a ponytail, his wetsuit glistening with the salt water. As he climbed onto the rock, he pulled off his snorkel and looked up towards the building that occupied the center of the island. "There it is, the scoop of a lifetime: Duel Academy," he began to take off the wetsuit, eyes never leaving the building, "Now let's go see what kinda dirt I can dig up on the story that will make me my fortune…" He laughed.

* * *

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!"

Crowler slammed his hands down on the oval table where he, Banner, Chancellor Sheppard, and other major faculty members were having meeting. Along with them were Zane, Davis, and Rachel.

"The School Duel between Duel and North Academy is the biggest match of the year if not of the decade!" Crowler shrieked, "We can take no chances, so it's clear that _Zane_ should be our Singles rep!" He pointed to the Kaiser.

Sheppard nodded, "Zane _is_ our best student, but he's a third year student and I've received word from the other school that it'll be using first–year students as well. Both Singles and Tag Team Division."

"Why would they do _that?"_ Crowler demanded.

The Headmaster shrugged, "Who knows, but in the spirit of competition I think we should use a first–year student as well," He turned to the upperclassman, "You understand, don't you, Zane?"

Zane nodded, "Of course, Chancellor."

"And you got us Dr. Crowler. Me and Rachel." Davis noted. "We're first–years too and we're Obelisks, so it's not all _too_ bad right?"

"Well… I guess…" Dr. Crowler said.

"Now then, the only question is who this first–year should be…?" Chancellor Sheppard pondered.

Before anyone could say anything, Zane folded his arms, closed his eyes and replied with, "Jaden Yuki." That thought made Sheppard look at him, intrigued by the thought of the Slifer, while it made Crowler cringe at the idea.

Banner nodded as he petted Pharaoh, "I agree, Jaden is our best new student." He looked down at his cat. "Don't you agree?" Pharaoh only mewled in response.

Crowler rolled his eyes, "Oh, well if the cat says so…"

"Chancellor," Zane turned to the bald headmaster, "Jaden will make Duel Academy proud, trust me…"

Sheppard looked at him for a few moments, and then nodded; "Alright then, it's decided… unless someone has any _other_ suggestions?" He looked at his colleagues.

Crowler grit his teeth at the thought of Jaden representing them in the School Duel, _'Jaden Yuki… that Slifer Slacker! Every time he does well, he makes_ me _look bad! There_ has_ to be someone else…'_ At that moment, a smile spread across his face, "Wait! Of course, Bastion Misawa!" He cried, "_He_ should represent us!"

"Bastion?" Davis and Rachel wondered. Zane looked curious as well.

"From Ra Yellow?" Sheppard looked at him curiously.

"Yes, he's far more qualified and he's tested higher than any other first–year. So it's only fair Chancellor."

"Well then… how about a Duel–Off then?" Chancellor Sheppard asked looking at Zane, Davis, and Rachel.

"Sure." Davis said.

"It sounds like a good idea." Rachel added. Zane could only nod.

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

**omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

* * *

After infiltrating the building and dodging groups of students and staff, the man from the ocean snuck into a nearby locker room and began to dig through the first unlocked one he could find. He smiled as he pulled out a large Slifer Red blazer. "Gotta blend in…" he snickered, taking off his black jacket and pulling the blazer over his blue shirt.

* * *

"For real?"

Banner smiled and nodded as he heard Jaden's reply to the news he had told his class, "Yes, Jaden you will be dueling Bastion in a Duel–Off to see who will be representing the Singles Divisions in the School Duel against North Academy." Jaden turned and looked up at Bastion, who was sitting behind him with Jaden grinning and Bastion smirking. "I'm looking forward to this exciting match and I wish you all the best of luck." Banner said, dismissing class. Some of the class left for the next class or something else, while the rest stayed behind.

"Way to go, Jay!" Syrus walked up to his friend, "You might be able to be in the School Duel!"

"No Slifer's ever done that before!" Chumley nodded, "You'd make Duel Academy history!"

"Aw…" Jaden rubbed the back of his head, "Ya think so?"

"We know so." Jaden turned to see Davis, Alexis, Rachel, and Bastion coming towards them. "Besides, I've always wanted to see you and Bastion duel each other."

"That's right!" Rachel smiled. "Can't wait to see you two throw down."

"Well Bastion, I guess the best man wins right?" Jaden asked.

Bastion chuckled, "Best deck. Ever since my duel with Chazz, I've been formulating a new set of cards to defeat you and your monsters."

"You said you would…" Jaden got to his feet, smiling, "So are ya finished?"

Bastion shook his head, "No, but it will be soon,"

"Well, til then, Bastion!" Jaden nodded as he and Bastion bumped fists together.

As Bastion walked off, Syrus and the other Slifers came to Jaden, interested in what they had heard. "Bastion's made a whole Deck just to duel you with?" Syrus asked, making sure he heard that right.

"I dunno whether you should be really honored or really scared," Chumley added.

Jaden smiled and put his hands behind his head, "Well guys, I guess we'll find out when we throw down!"

"All I know is, it's gonna be a sweet duel with sweet cards." Davis grinned. But then he remembered something. "Oh, and _speaking_ of cards, I got ya something from the Card Shack that might help ya for the School Duels." Davis said as he took out some cards from his pocket and gave it to Jaden.

"Wow! Thanks!" Jaden said as he looked at them. "These are awesome! They're definitely getting added to my Deck!"

"Glad you like it."

* * *

Later in the day, the wet suit guy, now having donned the perfect disguise, a Slifer Red blazer, the man with money on his mind walked down the corridors of Duel Academy, checking out the scenery. As he walked on, he noticed a couple of people in blue blazers coming his way and smiled. "Hey, fellow duelists," he greeted, walking up to them, "What's shakin' around here?"

The leading Obelisk pushed him away, "Out of the way, you Slifer Slime!"

"Hey…" he called to the Obelisk, but they ignored him. He turned to see a kid in yellow come by, "Hey, how's it going?"

"Beat it, Slifer Sludge!" the Ra hissed, pushing him away too.

The man shook his head, "What is going on here? Why won't anyone talk to me?"

Meanwhile, the trio of Slifers, Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley, and the trio of Obelisks, Davis, Alexis, and Rachel were walking until they saw the wet suit guy.

"Hey, who's that?" Chumley wondered.

"Don't know. Never seen him around before." Rachel answered.

"He must be new." Syrus added. That was Jaden went towards the guy.

"Hey!" Turning around, the man saw Jaden wearing the same color blazer as him.

"Oh… uh, hey…"

The boy looked him over, "You're old, how can you be a Slifer?" he asked quietly. The man was taken aback by the question and began to panic. Jaden grinned as he slapped the older man on the back, "Hey no worries, it's cool, we totally understand! It just took you awhile to get accepted here! Don't be ashamed, old timer! I'll show you around!" As Jaden and the old guy ran off, Syrus and Chumley were trying to keep up. However, Davis looked at the new guy suspiciously.

"You okay Davis?" Rachel asked.

"Huh?" the Avenger duelist asked snapping out of it. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just never seen the new guy before…" _'Why do I feel like he's not a student here though?'_ He thought.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go get some of my homework done." Alexis said. "I'll see you two later."

"Later." Davis said.

"Bye." Rachel waved as Alexis went her way.

That evening, after spending the rest of the day of showing the 'new guy' around campus, Jaden and the others went back to the Slifer mess hall for some dinner. The man looked down at his tray of food, questioning whether or not it was edible. He looked across the table and saw that Jaden was practically shoveling food into his mouth.

"Ya might wanna hurry up," Jaden said between mouthfuls, "Or you won't have time to get seconds!"

"Seconds?" The guy asked.

"Or thirds…" Jaden continued, still going at the food.

"And sometimes fourths." Syrus added. "A garbage disposal was supposed to come in for us, but Jaden's got _that_ taken care of!"

"I see, well…" The new guy decided to dig in.

After dinner and after the sun had set, Jaden, his friends, and the newbie sat around the dorm room while Jaden was going through his Hero deck, which was currently spread out along the floor along with the new cards that Davis gave him. "It does look good, but…" Syrus looked up at the ceiling, "I wonder what kinda deck Bastion's gonna have?"

"Dunno, but sounds like he some major time and brain juice into it," Chumley said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but with this Deck and the few cards that Kurogasa gave me, I'm sure I'm gonna win." Jaden grinned as he finished the Deck.

_'I'll_ never_ get my story if I keep hanging with these twerps…'_ The 'old timer' thought frustrated, before noticing something on the floor. He bent down and picked it up, it was a card. He looked at the card and gritted his teeth, _'Skyscraper… the card that ruined me…'_ He thought about the last time he dueled, facing a powerful dragon. He played Skyscraper in a desperate attempt to make a comeback, but somehow it made things worse…

"Hey, Old Timer, you ok?" Jaden asked.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" The older 'student' snapped his head to Jaden. "My name is Gerard!" But then just realized at the mistake he just made… _'Crap! I used my real name!'_ Gerard mentally groaned, trying to keep a calm face.

"Ok, Gerard it is!" Jaden smiled, then looked down at the card he was holding, "Hey, it's my Skyscraper card," He glanced up at the older man, "You like that card?"

Gerard scoffed and looked away, "Please, to like _this_ card, you'd have to like _dueling_ first…" He muttered.

Syrus tilted his head, "If you don't like dueling, why are you here?"

"Oh! Uh…" Gerard began to panic again, "Ya see… I uh… I mean that I don't like dueling because I'm just not good at it!" He lied quickly, praying that they bought it.

Chumley nodded, "I know how you feel, I'm not very good at it either," he looked down at his own cards, "But that's changing…" He pointed to Jaden and Syrus. "Once I started hanging out with Jaden and the others, and saw how they dueled, it totally changed my life."

Syrus turned to the old timer, "Gerard, that's it! If you watch Jaden, you might get into dueling more and the best thing is coming up! Jaden's gonna duel Bastion soon, maybe you could drop by!"

"Yeah, sure we'll see…" Gerard nodded and then mentally added, _'Please… I'm done with dueling. These kids should mind their own business.'_ But then he thought of something. _'But then again, seeing as these kids like to pry, maybe they_ can_ help me get the scoop I need!'_ He spoke up in a friendly manner. "So, you guys, I was just wondering. Do any of you know a rumor going around about kids disappearing?"

"You mean the Abandoned Dorm?" Jaden offered.

Gerard eyed him, "Abandoned Dorm?"

The Slifer nodded, "Yeah. We wandered inside it once and well…" he smiled nervously, "Very strange place…"

* * *

Once again, in the middle of the night, Alexis placed a rose against a stone on the perimeter of the old dorm. "Be at peace, brother… wherever you are," She whispered.

A rustling sound behind them made the Obelisk turn around. "Who's there!?" She yelled out to the forest. From the tree line, Gerard stepped out into view. Since he heard from Jaden about the Abandoned Dorm, he decided to check it out.

He waved at them both, "Why hello there…"

"Hey, I know you… you're that guy we ran into earlier today." Alexis recognized. "What are you doing around here?"

"Well uh… I've heard around school that some students have gone missing here," He glanced at the dorm, "Would you happen to know anything about this?"

Alexis stepped to the front and scowled, "What's it to you, ponytail?"

Gerard eyed the rose and smiled, "Just curious is all…"

"Yeah well, those students and how they disappeared aren't for your amusement!" Alexis snapped, "So just mind your own business!"

Gerard blinked, confused as the student walked away, "Okay… well I dunno what _her_ problem is, but I'm not giving up," he snickered, pulling out a small camera from his pocket and snapped some pictures, "I'm gonna get this story!" Unbeknownst to him though, Davis was taking a long walk when he noticed what Gerard was doing at the Abandoned Dorm. His eyes narrowed at this.

_'Cassie. Can you keep an eye on this guy? I got a funny feeling about him.'_ Davis said in his thoughts.

_"Of course."_ Cassie said as said heroine appeared and flew off into the night.

* * *

At the Ra Yellow Dorm, Bastion was in his dorm room, sitting at his computer. He had been doing research on Jaden's deck for weeks, and he was still trying to figure out how to successfully defeat him as he was typing away. "Countless equations, a myriad of theorems, yet still… I have yet to solve the problem that is Jaden's Deck..." He clicked on the various pictures of his Fusion Monsters.

"Ah, the Flame Wingman, an impressive specimen. Whenever he destroys a Monster, that Monster's ATK points are dealt to the owners Life Points. In order to stop him, I must stop Burstinatrix and Avian so they can't fuse. Of course… even if I _do_ stop them, Jaden still has the Thunder Giant. He can destroy a Monster that has up to 2400 ATK Points as soon as he's summoned! To stop him, I must take out Sparkman and Clayman before they can fuse."

He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head and eyes focused on the computer ahead of him.

"Think Bastion, think! I could assemble a Deck to handle each one of those Monsters, but that would leave far too much to chance. There must be a simple way to neutralize the threat… some strategy to stop those Fusion monsters…"

That's when it hit him…

"Wait a moment, that's it!" He then began to type furiously. "It's so obvious! Jaden Yuki, the code to your Deck has just been cracked!"

* * *

The next morning, while everyone was busy getting ready for the Duel–Off, Gerard had snuck into the library and was now sitting at an empty computer desk, a small PDA linked up with it. Gerard smiled as he waited for the password to be cracked, so he could hack into the database.

"C'mon… show me some good stuff for my story!" he chuckled, rubbing his hands together. Unbeknownst to him, a small person with insect wings was watching.

_"It seems that Davis' instincts were right. I better tell him!"_ Cassie said as she flew off to meet with Davis.

* * *

Everyone sat down in the Main Arena, waiting for the Duel–Off of Bastion Misawa and Jaden Yuki to begin. Crowler was very eager, but not because of the duel itself, but because he was confident that Bastion would cream Jaden. The Head of Obelisk Blue stepped onto the platform as the two duelists came to their respective ends. Crowler looked at the audience and raised his hands dramatically, "It's time, duelists! To find out who will be representing our Academy's Singles Division in the annual School Duel!" Cheers erupted all around the arena as Crowler nodded, taking in the applause before waving to one end of the platform, "Introducing… from the Ra Yellow Dorm, Bastion Misawa!"

More cheers came as fellow Ras and friends of Bastion clapped for their favorite.

"And on this end…" Crowler waved to Jaden's side, "From Slifer… some kid," Crowler finished, less enthusiastic this time.

Above the seats, at the railing surrounding the stands, Zane walked over to Alexis, with eyes focused on the two duelists.

"It'll be instincts against intelligence here," He greeted, taking a spot alongside Alexis.

"Sure is." Alexis said.

At another part of the railing davis and Rachel were watching from above as well.

"This is gonna be exciting." Rachel said.

"Yep. It's gonna be one sweet duel." Davis grinned.

_"Davis!"_ A voice called. Davis turned his head to his right and saw Cassie flying towards them.

_"_Cassie? You find something?" Davis asked.

_"Yep. Your instincts were right. That new guy you told me to follow was suspicious. He's some kind of reporter. He took pictures of the Abandoned Dorm and now he's accessing the school's file on a computer in the library."_

"I knew there was something suspicious about him." Davis gritted. "Cassie, can you take me there?"

_"Follow me."_ Cassie said and flew off. Davis then turned around to go into the hallway.

"Wait, where are you going?" Rachel called out.

"To the library! Just had to take care of something! Record the duel on your PDA while I'm gone!"

* * *

Back at the platform…

On the field, Jaden nodded to Bastion, "Here we go… good luck!"

"I appreciate the sentiment, Jaden," Bastion smiled, "But with the Deck I've prepared, I don't _need_ luck."

"Heh, well we'll see about that!" Jaden said, holding up _his_ Deck.

"Now," Crowler raised his arms again, "Without any further ado–"

"Get your game on, Bastion!"

"You're on, Jaden!"

Both duelists turned on their duel disks and drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Bastion:** 4000

**Jaden:** 4000

"Alright, first move!" Bastion declared drawing his sixth card, "I summon Carboneddon in DEF mode!" He declared as he placed a card sideways on his disk. A gray, metallic dinosaur appear on his field kneeling and crossing its arms (2/ATK: 900/DEF: 600). "That'll do for now."

"Man, a whole new deck and Carboneddon is the best you can bust out? Ok, whatever works for ya," Jaden drew his card and smiled, "I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in ATK mode!" Bastion watched as the red–clad Heroine came to the Field (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 800). _'Hmm… only one turn and he already has half the equation he needs to create his favorite monster, the Flame Wingman.'_ Bastion thought.

"Off to a good start there!" He called out.

"Yeah, sure am! I got news for ya, it only gets better!" Jaden pointed to the metal monster on the opposing side, "Burstinatrix, attack!" He ordered. Burstinatrix created a ball of fire from her hand and shot it towards the carbon dinosaur and it exploded into a plume of flame and smoke that soon blew away from Bastion, who looked rather calm.

"I'll end my turn with two facedowns!" Jaden finished as he inserted two cards into an empty slot.

Bastion nodded, "You don't waste any time, Jaden, I like that," He drew his next card and looked at it. _'Here it is! The one card that will win me this duel! But first…'_ "I'll summon Oxygeddon in ATK mode!" He declared. The green pterodactyl made of Oxygen screeched as it appeared on the field, stretching out its wings. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 800) "Now, Oxygeddon, attack Burstinatrix!" He ordered.

"Think again!" Jaden pressed a button on his disk and one of his facedowns opened up, "I play a Trap! Hero Barrier! With this card, if I have an Elemental Hero on the field, I can negate your monsters attack once!" A blue barrier came in between Oxygeddon and Burstinatrix just as the former let loose a blast of clear vapor. "Sorry, Bastion, but Burstinatrix isn't busted yet!" Jaden grinned.

"Well played, Jaden," Bastion praised, "Of course I would expect no less." He looked at the card he had drawn earlier, _'Of course when I use this card, it won't_ matter _how well you play…'_ "I'll go ahead and place this card face down," he inserted the card and a reversed card appeared on the Field, "And I'll end my turn."

"Alright," Jaden drew his card, and then placed it on the disk, "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in ATK mode!" the electric Hero joined the fiery Heroine on the field. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400) "Next, I'll play the Spell card, Spark Blaster and equip it on Sparkman!" He paused and watched as the futuristic pistol appeared, wires coming out of the handle and going into Sparkman's wrist, "This lets me change the battle mode of any Monster on the Field, and the one I have in mind is Oxygeddon!" Sparkman fired off a ball of electricity that struck Oxygeddon in the chest, making it go into a defensive crouching position, wings folded in front.

"Now, Burstinatrix can take him out! Magma Comet!" In the palm of Burstinatrix's hand, a big orb of swirling fire, which was about twice the size of her own head, appeared. She pulled back her arm and lobbed it hard at Oxygeddon.

Bastion couldn't help but smile as his Monster was attacked, "Looks like someone has forgotten their chemistry," He shook his head, "Fire and oxygen don't mix Jaden, so when Oxygeddon is destroyed in battle by a Pyro–type or FIRE Attribute monster it deals 800 points of Damage to both of us!" The oxygen pterodactyl then exploded when the fire made contact.

"Well, good thing I have my _other_ facedown." Jaden grinned as he pressed a button and revealed the other facedown. "I activate the trap, Heat Wave! When I have Burstinatrix on the Field, I can negate any and all Effect Damage this turn!" Fire surrounded the Heroine and shot out a wave of fire that cancelled out the explosion. "And with _that_ out of the way, Sparkman attack directly with Static Shockwave!" The electric Hero then shot his hand forward and electricity shot out shocking Bastion.

**Bastion:** 2400

**Jaden:** 4000

"All right, Jaden's in the league! Way to play!" Syrus cheered.

In the stands, Sheppard turned to Banner, who was sitting a row or two behind him. "Looks like Zane was right about the boy, he's quite the duelist."

Banner smiled, "It's true, we teach our Slifers well…" he chuckled, "When they _don't_ ditch class…

Unfortunately, Crowler wasn't liking this at all_. 'Bastion's getting creamed, I'm getting humiliated and worst of all…' _He pulled his hair hard, _'Jaden's looking better than ever!'_

"Sorry, Bastion," Jaden smiled, "But it looks like it'll be back to the drawing board again if you wanna beat my Deck!"

Bastion smiled, "No Jaden, I think not. You see, I've already beaten it, it's just a matter of showing all of my work," He then added in his mind. _'And the matter of allowing Jaden to play the card that will enact my master plan to bring down his Deck.'_ "Now, let's get back into the fray, shall we? It's my turn," Bastion drew his next card, "I'm summoning Hydrogeddon in ATK mode!" The dinosaur made out of pure mud water appeared. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000) "Hydrogeddon, attack Burstinatrix!" Jaden watched as a stream of water erupted from the Hydrogeddon's jaws and rammed itself into Burstinatrix, blowing her to pieces.

**Bastion:** 2400

**Jaden:** 3600

"Next, I'll activate Hydrogeddon's ability. Whenever he destroys a Monster in battle, it allows me to summon another Hydrogeddon, and I happen to have one here in my Deck!" Another Hydrogeddon joined the first one (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000). Bastion took another card from his hand, "Next, I play the Equip Spell Card, Living Fossil! I can now summon a monster from my Graveyard as long as I equip it with this. So the monster I'll bring back is…" He reached down to his slot as a card popped out. "Oxygeddon, rise again, old friend!" He called as he slapped the monster card onto the field again. (4/ATK: 1800–800/DEF: 800).

"Of course, his attack points are lowered and his ability is canceled, but it's worth it! Now it gets good, I play the Spell card, Bonding H2O! With this card Jaden, when I bond two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon, they do the same thing that two hydrogen and one oxygen molecules do… they become water! Or in this case," he paused as his three monsters swirled around and around until a huge serpent made from deep blue water appeared in front of him. (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600) "The almighty Water Dragon!"

Jaden looked up at the serpent, "That's not good…"

"Impressive monster," Sheppard mused.

Banner nodded, "Yes, an impressive move, too," he looked at the duel, "It'll be tough…" Pharaoh mewled in agreement.

Now, Crowler was enjoying the twist. "Bastion's looking magnificent; I'm looking brilliant, and best of all, Jaden looks like a complete fool!"

"Not lishus…" Chumley groaned.

"Come on Jaden…" Rachel muttered.

"It's your move now, Jaden," Bastion nodded, _'And if you plan to take on my Water Dragon, there's only one move you can make, and it's the move I've been waiting for…'_

"Well Bastion, it's like they say: 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going'. So here I go," Jaden drew his new card and smiled, "Sweet!" He looked up at Bastion, "You got one of your best monsters out, so allow me to summon up one of mine! Now I may not know much about chemistry as much as _you_ do, but I can still mix it up! Avian and Bubbleman, get ready to fuse with Sparkman to create the Elemental Hero Tempest!" Jaden smiled confidently as his three Heroes came to the field, followed by the image of his Polymerization card, "Now, fuse!"

"I don't think so, Jaden!" Bastion cried.

"Huh?" Jaden stared at him, taken back.

Bastion waved his arm to his face down, "Go, reveal Continuous Trap card! Non–Fusion Area!" Everyone gasped at this.

"Oh snap!" Rachel shouted.

"Jaden fell right into _that _one." Zane stated.

"With this trap card, neither of us can Fusion Summon!" Bastion stated.

Jaden stared at him, completely frozen in shock as his Polymerization was nullified. He blinked, "Wait, I can't use Polymerization anymore!?"

"I'm afraid not," Bastion folded his arms, "Which essentially means you can't use any of your Fusion Monsters either. No Flame Wingman, no Thunder Giant… _none_ of them!"

Syrus shook his head, "No Fusion monsters?! But that's how Jaden wins _all_ his duels!"

"Compute it anyway you like, Jaden, but the answer will still be the same… you can't win!" Bastion chuckled as his Water Dragon loomed over Jaden.

* * *

Meanwhile… (A/N: This happens during the second half of Jaden and Bastion's Duel.)

In the darkness of the empty library, Gerard sat at his computer, impatiently waiting for the password to the database to be finally cracked. "If I can just get past this thing, I'll be able to access Duel Academy's student files…" He murmured, sitting back in his chair. He watched as his little PDA failed to get the right password and was about to lose it when it finally managed to crack it.

He smiled as the screen changed and showed him Obelisk the Tormentor, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and Slifer the Sky Dragon, the three Egyptian God cards that the dorms of the school were named after. "Got it!" The screen changed again from the Gods to an image of Duel Monster cards. However, they weren't really cards. Some of them were showing the backside, while other showed him images of different students from different dorms. One picture of a young man with brunette hair in Obelisk Blue colors caught his eyes. Gerard leaned forward, eyes scanning the words, "Atticus Rhodes. Studying abroad on special sabbatical…" He frowned as his eyes darted from side to side, seeing different kids with similar statuses.

"This one too… and this one and that one…" He scratched his head, "This is weird. All of them are studying abroad, but they have no forwarding address. I don't buy it at all, these must be the missing kids from the Abandoned Dorm and the Academy must be trying to cover it up!" He smiled as he made some notes in his personal electronic device, "I smell a front page scandal and a major payday to the reporter who makes this story. Thanks for the scoop, Duel Academy, and good luck trying to survive all the bad publicity!"

"I knew it!" A voice said. Gerard freaked out as he jumped out of the seat and turned around to see Davis in front of him. "I _thought_ you were suspicious from the start. You're not a student here at all! You're just a reporter trying to dig up dirt!" Gerard then noticed that the download was complete. He takes his PDA and made a bolt for the door with Davis." He said holding up the key. "Why are guys like you trying to expose something like the missing kids from the Abandoned Dorm?"

"Why else? To sell to the highest bidder to get my fame and fortune in being the top reporter." Gerard said. "I make a living digging up dirt and taking up tabloid pictures. Always have and always will. And I have to say this scandal takes the cake."

"You think this is all a joke?!" Davis growled in anger. "Those missing kids are not for yours or anyone else's amusement! I even have a friend whose brother is missing and you're gonna desecrate her brother's memory by doing _this_?! Well, you're dead wrong!" Gerard looked at Davis for a while as he remembered what Alexis had told him.

* * *

Flashback

_"Be at peace brother… wherever you are…" Alexis said placing a rose near a stone._

_"Those students and how they disappeared aren't for your amusement!" Alexis snapped. "So just mind your own business!"_

End Flashback

* * *

_'He must be talking about that girl's brother.'_ Gerard thought. His thoughts were cut off when Davis started to speak.

"But I get it. People like you don't give a crap. All you care about are money and fame. Well, I'm gonna put a stop to that!" He then tossed a spare duel disk to Gerard, with the latter catching it sloppily. "You and I are gonna duel with your freedom and that data on the line. You win, you're free to go with it, but if _I_ win, you're gonna turn yourself in to the authorities here on this island and that data stays with me."

"Oh please, I've given up dueling, so there would be no need."

"Then what's that near your feet?" Davis asked pointing down on the ground. Gerard looked down and noticed the cards near his feet and started freaking out.

"I–I needed to blend in as a duelist that's all!" Gerard stuttered as he knelt down and gathered all the cards.

"But you know how to duel right? So get ready!" Davis then strapped his duel disk on his arm and took his Deck out of his deck box. He then placed the Deck into the deck slot and it went from standby to active.

"Grr… fine…" Gerard as he did the same. _'If I'm gonna get out of this, I better survive and duel this kid and win…'_ Both players drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Gerard:** 4000

**Davis:** 4000

"I'll start." Gerard said drawing his sixth card. "I'll set this Monster and place a facedown." A sideways reverse card and a second reverse card that's vertical appeared. "That's all from me."

"My turn! Draw!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Ben 10 in ATK mode!" The Omnitrix wielder appeared (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500). "Now I activate his special ability, which lets me put him back into my Deck and replace him with an "Omnitrix" monster. So I choose Shocksquatch!" Ben then activated the Omnitrix and in his place was a yeti-like creature with black and yellow fur, surging with electricity (6/ATK: 2350/DEF: 1900). "Ben, attack!"

"Great…" Gerard muttered.

_"Right, eh!"_ Ben (as Shocksquatch) said and sent a powerful surge at the facedown, which revealed to be a woman with black with a curvy figure in black armor (4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1500).

_'Elemental Hero Shadow Mist?' _Davis thought. '_He runs those too like Jaden. With an Elemental Hero like that, his Deck must be full of the Nature themed Heroes.' _

"Thanks kid, you activated my trap! Hero Signal!" Gerard countered revealing the trap and the spotlight showing the fancy H appeared on the ceiling. "Since you destroyed my Monster, I get to summon another Elemental Hero and I choose Elemental Hero Woodsman from my Deck in DEF mode!" A bald muscular green skinned man with tattered brown shorts with his of his body made out of pure wood appeared taking a knee. (4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 2000).

_'I was right. He's using the nature themed Heroes.'_ Davis thought. "I activate Shockquatch's special ability! Whenever he destroys a Monster, half of that Monster's ATK points are dealt to your Life Points!" With that said, Shocksquatch sent another electrical surge at Gerald, causing him to lose some Life Points.

**Gerard:** 3500

**Davis:** 4000

"I'll end there." Davis declared.

"It's my turn," Gerard said, drawing his next card. "Okay… Standby Phase, I'll have Woodsman use his effect; he allows me to take a Polymerization from my Deck and add it to my Hand."

_'That would be useful…'_ Davis thought as his opponent took out his deck to retrieve the card.

"And then, I'll use it!" Gerard announced, inserting Polymerization into his disk. "And I take Woodsman along with Elemental Hero Ocean in my hand to Fusion Summon!" Elemental Hero Woodsman along with Elemental Hero Ocean, a blue, fishlike warrior with a white lance appeared and fused together. As the two other heroes vanished, a towering figure crashed onto the field, rising up to well more than ten feet tall. It had skin made of sheer white stone, with purple gemstones on its shoulders and head, and a red one on its chest. It also possessed spikes on its hips and shoulders. (8/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)

"Meet Elemental Hero Terra Firma," He shouted.

"Oh great…" Davis groaned, "A Legendary Planet Monster…"

"Attack Shocksquatch!" Gerard commanded as his Elemental Hero flew into action and struck Shocksquatch with a double fist to the gut.

"When an "Omnitrix" monster is destroyed or removed from play, Ben 10 comes back!" Davis said as Shocksquatch turned back into Ben.

**Gerard:** 3500

**Davis:** 3850

"150 points, no problem…" the Avenger duelist said, keeping his guard up.

Gerard growled, "Just go, alright…"

"Okay," Davis said, drawing his next card.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"What?!" Gerard asked shocked.

"I'll be taking down your monster in one go… Bartman OOO, let's go!" A silhouette of a man appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. He took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor. Becoming Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"And then, I'll activate Ben 10's ability again! This time, I'm bringing in a big one!" Ben activated the Omnitrix and a giant dinosaur like creature appeared in his place (9/ATK:3300/DEF:3000). "Meet Humongosaur!"

Gerard started to step back, "What the hell does _he _do?"

"You'll see once he takes out Terra Firma! Oh, and once per turn, for every card in my Hand, he gains 400 ATK, so with five cards come 2000 ATK!"

"What?!" Gerard cried.

Humongosaur grew a bit bigger as he charged at Terra Firma (9/ATK:3300-5300/DEF:3000). With one punch, the hero was destroyed.

**Gerard:** 700

**Davis:** 3850

The tabloid reporter started to sweat, _'Not good at all…'_

But before Davis decided his next move, he said, "You know, I noticed something about you."

"What's that?"

"You haven't given up dueling completely. You're so focused on _it_ and not what he came here to do." Davis smirked. This shocks Gerard. "And as a human being, don't you think you should investigate on how these kids end up missing? Because from what you say about studying abroad from the data, means that they know something but they know that the public won't believe it. You post that story and then what; you get money, Duel Academy will be torn apart, and the kids will forever remain lost to their loved ones. No person would want that, I can see it in your eyes!" Gerard just stood there for a while. Davis had a good point. If he sold the story, then it _will_ Duel Academy and the ones missing will _never_ be found.

"But if I can knock that sense into you, then this will do it! Bart, attack directly!"

_"OK!"_ Bart responded as he jumped up and did the Tatoba Kick, making Gerard fly back a couple before landing on his back.

**Davis:** 3850

**Gerard:** 0

* * *

The duel disks deactivated and the holograms disappeared. Davis walked up to the fallen reporter who was slowly getting up. "I win."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Gerard sighed. "And about what you say, I guess you're right. You have a point. All I've been doing is ruining people's lives by digging up dirt, when I _should_ be helping."

"So… you're not going to ruin this Academy?" Davis asked.

"No… I'm gonna set things right from now on. I'll help look for the missing students."

"Good. Then you can go."

"Huh? You're not turning me in?"

"Nope. Now that I know you won't go ruining people's lives. You're still giving me the data though."

"Heh. Yeah, I should. Thanks kid." Gerard said. Davis then went to the locked door and unlocked it. "Here take it." He then took out his Deck and gave it to Davis.

"Huh? But this is your Deck."

"It's alright. I can get a new Deck." Gerard said shaking his head. "Give it to that Elemental Hero kid though. It'll help him out." And with that Gerard left.

_"Good job Davis."_ Rikku said as she appeared. _"You made him see the error of his ways."_

"Yeah. I just hope he can keep his end of the deal." Davis sighed.

_"I'm sure he will."_ Ava said as she appeared. _"But anyways, we better get back to Jaden and Bastion's duel."_

"Oh snap, you're right!" Davis realized as he pocketed Gerard's Deck and the data and went on his way to the Main Arena.

* * *

Back to the Duel… (A/N: This happens during the beginning of Davis and Gerard's Duel.)

Bastion stood confidently as he saw his work coming to fruition, "Face it Jaden, with your Fusion monsters neutralized and my Water Dragon about to strike, you and your Monsters are about to be all washed up.

"I can't watch…" Syrus groaned, afraid that his friend would actually lose this duel.

"It's not _all_ bad. Jaden still has more Life Points," Chumley pointed out.

"Yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that Jaden's Fusion Monsters have been completely sealed off." Victor pointed out.

"Grr… I'll summon my Elemental Hero Avian in DEF mode!" The green feathered hero appeared on the Field (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000).

"C'mon Jaden, fight back!" Rachel shouted.

"Not much he can do now…" Alexis said.

"And it's all thanks to Non–Fusion Area." Zane stated. "Bastion's played this out like a pro. That one card disarmed Jaden's entire Deck."

"That's it, Bastion! Show this Slifer Slacking Sludge who's boss!" Crowler cheered, "Show him he doesn't belong in the School Duel!"

"My, Pharaoh," Banner ran a hand along his pet's back, "This does not look good."

"Then I'll switch my Sparkman to DEF Mode," Jaden reached down and turned his monster sideways, watching his Hero take a knee, "And that's all I do for now."

"Not much you can do when you've been stripped of the ability to use your favorite monsters, eh Jaden?" Bastion smirked.

Jaden shook his head, "Wrong Bastion, there's _loads_ to do. Like finding a new plan. It'll be tough, but I'm up for it, and then Bastion it'll be all the sweeter when I win!"

Bastion smiled, "Yes, when you win," he murmured, "Well, we have nothing if not our dreams, then I suppose however farfetched. Now let's get on with the duel, shall we Jaden? My draw!" Bastion drew his next card and looked at it, "I summon The Mathematician in ATK mode!" A short man in scholar robes, a pair of thick glasses, a long beard and a staff appeared alongside the huge Water Dragon (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 500). "You see, when he's summoned to the Field, I must take a card from my Deck and send it to the Graveyard," Bastion then did so "But if he's destroyed in battle, I can take a card from my Deck and add it to my Hand!" he glanced at his Graveyard, "Of course, none of that is very pressing at this moment. Now my Water Dragon is ready to surge into action!"

At those words, the watery serpent shot a long stream of water that crashed down upon Sparkman, drowning him and sending him to the Graveyard. "And now, Mathematician attacks your Hero Avian!" Bastion cried, "Number Cruncher!" The monster raised its staff and sends a beam of numbers and variables at Avian, blowing him to pieces on contact.

"Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse…" Syrus shook his head is dismay.

"He's wide open now…" Chumley muttered.

"Well, my turn's done, Jaden," Bastion declared, "So, if you still plan on beating me, feel free to go ahead and do your worst!"

The Slifer grinned, "You bet I will. Because _my_ duel is just starting!"

"_Is_ it now?" Bastion smiled, amused slightly.

"Yep, you see, we're different," Jaden looked at him, "You make all your moves at home, while I make all my moves on the field!" He reached down to his deck, "Alright, where were we?" He drew his card, "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards!" Jaden drew two. "Sweetness! I'll summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in ATK mode!" The water based Hero came to the Field (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200). "Now, when I summon Bubbleman, and if I have no other cards out, that's a _good_ thing! Know why? It lets me draw two new cards," He drew two more. "And one of them, I'll play right now. Bubble Blaster! This lets Bubbleman get an extra 800 ATK points!" A large water cannon appeared as Bubbleman took a knee, and took the cannon over his shoulder.

Elemental Hero Bubbleman (4/ATK: 800–1600/DEF: 1200)

"Now, Bubbleman attack! Bombarding Bubble Barrage!" Bubbleman fired a huge bubble blast that crashed right into the Mathematician, blowing him to the grave.

**Bastion:** 2300

**Jaden:** 3600

"Well played Jaden. But since you destroyed Mathematician, his ability activates, allowing me to draw one card," He drew a card from his Deck.

"Yeah, yeah, but it's still my turn," Jaden reminded him, "Now I'm gonna throw down two face downs and then I'll play the Spell card, Mirage of Nightmare! Then I'll call it a turn," He finished up as the three holo–cards appeared on the field. "See, Bastion, I'm no one–trick pony. You take away my Fusion Monsters and I'll just come right back at ya with something else, 'cause it's not about the Fusion, it's about the Monsters and all of mine are raring to go!"

"I'm sure, but the fact of the matter is Jaden, is that your most powerful Monsters are not. When will you accept that dueling is nothing more than a numbers game? A number's game that I have calculated effectively and you have not. Your defeat is imminent Jaden! Now," Bastion reached down, "My draw!"

As he drew his next card, Jaden smiled, "And with it, time for Mirage of Nightmare's effect! During your Standby Phase, I can draw four new cards from my deck and add them to my Hand!" He drew his four cards.

"Very well then, I play my _own_ Pot of Greed allowing me to draw two cards." Bastion drew two. "Then I'll chain it with Serial Spell! By discarding my entire Hand to the Graveyard, I can duplicate the effect of Pot of Greed. Meaning, I can draw four new cards." Bastion discarded and drew four. "You're just simply delaying the inevitable. Your Deck's a problem that's already been solved."

"You're wrong!" Jaden defied.

"Well perhaps, _this_ will convince you then. There are ten cards in the Graveyard, lying on top of my Carboneddon, but he can handle the pressure… in fact, he thrives on it! Because of the gravitational force on Carboneddon, he changes into diamond, which allows me to use effect!" Bastion reached and took out the Carboneddon card pocketing it and placed a new card onto the disk, "By removing his card from the Graveyard, I can now summon Hyozanryu, the Diamond Dragon from my Deck!" A new dragon descended with a beautiful hide of diamond scales, and a powerful set of claws, with an impressive set of wings. (7/ATK: 2100/DEF: 2800).

"Wow, a card from one of the Battle city days." Rachel thought.

"Yeah, you don't see _those_ every day." Syrus commented.

"Now, Hyozanryu, attack Bubbleman with Diamond Devastator!" Bastion ordered. The new dragon screeched and launched a stream of diamond shards. The diamond shards soared past Bubbleman, blowing his Bubble Blaster away.

Elemental Hero Bubbleman (4/ATK: 1600–800/DEF: 1200)

"Whoopsie, Bastion," Jaden shook his head, "When Bubbleman is attacked when he's equipped with Bubble Blaster, it's the Blaster that gets destroyed, not the Monster!"

"But now that your Blaster's gone… who will protect you against the Water Dragon?" he pointed to Jaden, "Water Dragon, Tidal Blast!" he ordered. Once again, the liquid dragon fired off a huge and powerful blast of water and blew Bubbleman away in a bright blue light, taking a chunk of Jaden's points away from him.

**Bastion:** 2300

**Jaden:** 1600

"Thanks Bastion; since you destroyed my Monster, I can activate my Hero Signal!" Jaden countered revealing the facedown and a spotlight with a fancy letter H appeared on top. "And I'll chain with Emergency Provisions!" He declared revealing his other facedown. "I send Mirage of Nightmare and Hero Signal to the graveyard to regain 2000 Life Points." The cards shattered and Jaden glowed a green aura.

**Bastion:** 2300

**Jaden:** 3600

"Yeah, he's back to where he started!" Rika cheered.

"And now my Hero Signal let me Special Summon Elemental Hero Clayman from my Deck in DEF mode!" The bulky clay hero appeared crouching (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 2000)

"Well, whaddya know. He changed strategy and he's still playing well." Zane said.

"Yeah, but can he handle it?" Alexis asked rhetorically.

Bastion couldn't help but smile, "My, you just won't give up will you, Jaden? You certainly are one stubborn duelist."

"Thanks Bastion…" Jaden scratched his cheek, "At least I _think_ that was a compliment…"

"Anyway, I'll end my turn with a face down." Bastion inserted a card into his disk.

"Here goes!" Jaden drew his card. His eyes widened at the card he got. "This is…!"

* * *

Flashback

_As Bastion walked off, Syrus and the other Slifers came to Jaden, interested in what they had heard. "Bastion's made a whole Deck just to duel you with?" Syrus asked, making sure he heard that right._

_"I dunno whether you should be really honored or really scared," Chumley added._

_Jaden smiled and put his hands behind his head, "Well guys, I guess we'll find out when we throw down!"_

_"All I know is, it's gonna be a sweet duel with sweet cards." Davis grinned. But then he remembered something. "Oh, and_ speaking _of cards, I got ya something from the Card Shack that might help ya for the School Duels." Davis said as he took out some cards from his pocket and gave it to Jaden._

_"Wow! Thanks!" Jaden said as he looked at them. "These are awesome! They're definitely getting added to my Deck!"_

_"Glad you like it."_

End Flashback

* * *

Jaden chuckled at this. _'Davis, I owe you one _big_ time.'_ He thought. "Alright, it's time for me to bring out a Fusion Monster!" Jaden declared. Everyone murmured in confusion.

"What? What's he talking about?" Syrus wondered. "He can't use his Fusion Monsters anymore unless he can use Polymerization, but he can't!"

"Yeah, and it's thanks to Non–Fusion Area." Chumley stated. "How can he do that though?"

"Didn't I just tell you Jaden? With Non–Fusion Area, neither of us can Fusion Summon." Bastion reminded. "I have already solved the problem by taking out Polymerization. My strategy is flawless."

"Who said it was Polymerization?" Jaden smirked. Now everyone was _really_ confused. "And about your strategy being flawless, well, it's flawed now! I play the Spell card, Mask Change!"

"Mask Change?" Everyone asked.

"That's right!" He answered, playing a Spell that depicted a man dashing across space while his face was shining. "This takes one Hero monster on my side of the Field and Special Summons another Hero from my Extra Deck! Clayman, perform the Transformation Summon!" Jaden announced.

"Transformation Summon?" Everyone asked again as the bulky Hero jumped into space and donned a mask he pulled out of nowhere. Once she did, a light enveloped him and started to change. He lost his bulky armor, now showing a silhouetted muscular man and now crystal silver armor with gold trimmings, attached to him with a blue cape hovering. His face was covered a silver crystal mask. When it was completed, he descended down to the Field and a 3 foot spear with a rapier handle appeared in his hand (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 3000).

"And here is! Masked Hero Dian!" Jaden announced. Everyone looked in shock and awe at the appearance of the new hero before them.

"Oh yeah! Go Jaden!" Rachel cheered.

"Where did he get _that_?!" Crowler said astonished.

"This is totally lishus now!" Chumley grinned.

"Impressive. He found a loophole around Non–Fusion Area." Zane smiled impressed.

"Yeah, I wonder what that Monster can do." Alexis said.

"We're about to find out."

"Bet you didn't see that coming did ya." Jaden grinned. Bastion just stood there dumbfounded. How could this happen? His strategy of completely sealing off Jaden's Fusion Monsters was flawless until _now_. Bastion could only shake his head smiling.

"You're right. I didn't expect _this_ to happen, let alone consider Mask Change as an X Factor. Non–Fusion Area doesn't apply to it. Well played Jaden."

"Thanks, now if you don't mind, I'll continue by playing the Field Spell, Skyscraper!" Jaden inserted the card into the Field Spell slot and tall buildings rose from the platform. "Then I'll activate the Spell card, Kishido Spirit and equip it to Masked Hero Dian! Now he can attack Monsters with the same ATK points without being destroyed in the process. Now Masked Hero Dian, attack his Water Dragon with Diamond Spear Thrust!" Jaden ordered. The new hero rushed towards the liquid dragon and thrusted the spear into the dragon destroying it in the process.

"Now Water Dragon special ability activates, Jaden. When he's destroyed in battle, I can summon one Oxygeddon and two Hydrogeddon's from my Field!" he paused as the three dinos came back to his Field in DEF mode. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 800), (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000) x2

"You're not the only one with a special ability! Masked Hero Dian's effect activates! When he destroys a Monster in battle, I can Special Summon an Elemental Hero from my Deck! And I choose my Elemental Hero Wildheart!" A dark–skinned, muscled man in a loincloth, a giant sword on his back jumped on to the Field (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1600).

"That's new." Syrus commented.

"And just so you know, Traps won't work on Wildheart." Jaden said. "Now Wildheart, attack his Hyozanryu! And since Skyscraper is on the Field, since his ATK points are lower than Hyozanryu, his ATK increases by 1000 until the End of the Battle Phase! Wild Slash!"

Elemental Hero Wildheart (4/ATK: 1500–2500/DEF: 1600)

Wildheart leapt up at the diamond dragon and slashed it with his sword destroying the dragon into diamond shards.

**Bastion:** 1900

**Jaden:** 3600

"Oh wow… this is one lishus duel." Chumley commented.

"Yeah, and it's not slowing down." Syrus added.

"Good show, Jaden." Bastion praised.

"Well, I do what I can," Jaden shrugged casually.

"Alright, it's my turn now," Bastion drew his card, "First I switch Oxygeddon to ATK mode!" The oxygen pterodactyl stood up. "Now from my hand, I play the Spell card, Offerings to the Doomed! By sacrificing my next Draw Phase, I'll destroy your Masked Hero Dian!" the said Spell card appeared and unleashed a golden light destroying him. "Now I activate the Ritual Spell, Litmus Doom Ritual! Now, by sacrificing cards from my Hand and Field with up to eight stars, I can summon Lithmus Doom Swordsman!" A sparking monument rose from the earth, followed by his two Hydrogeddons being wiped away from the field. In their place, an impressive warrior in a tunic and red cape, carrying two swords in his hands appeared. (8/ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

"Doom Swordsman isn't affected by Traps, and he can't be destroyed in battle," Bastion smiled, "Essentially, he's invincible! Also, if there happens to be a Trap card on the field, like Non–Fusion Area for example, my Doom Swordsman's ATK and DEF points become 3000!" A red aura seeped from the Trap card and flowed into the swordsman.

Doom Litmus Swordsman (8/ATK: 0–3000/DEF: 0–3000)

"Now, Litmus Doom Swordsman, give Wildheart a taste of your steel!" Bastion commanded. His Ritual monster let out a battle cry, then leapt over to Wildheart, and with a few quick swipes, it destroyed the Elemental Hero with ease.

**Bastion:** 1900

**Jaden:** 2100

"Now Oxygeddon, attack Jaden with Vapor Stream!" Bastion ordered. The oxygen pterodactyl let out sonic waves from its mouth and attacked Jaden.

**Bastion:** 1900

**Jaden:** 300

"Finally, I'll activate the Equip Spell, Raregold Armor on Lithmus Doom Swordsman." The said Monster was now donned in armor. "Now your Monsters are force to attack only Doom Swordsman."

"Aw man… Jaden lost his Monsters! He's completely defenseless now!" Syrus said in dismay.

"And with that Raregold Armor, Jaden's only allowed to attack Doom Swordsman." Chumley stated.

Jaden looked at Bastion for a few, long minutes, and then smiled, "You know Bastion, I don't think I've had more fun in a duel…"

"I've enjoyed it too, Jaden, and I'll continue to enjoy it… when I beat you," Bastion said confidently.

"Actually… I'm ending this now!" Jaden drew his card and looked at it, "Sweetness! First I play the Spell card, the Warrior Returning Alive! This lets me bring Bubbleman back to my Hand." He took the said card out of the Graveyard. "And I'll summon him back to the Field!" The water themed hero returned to the Field. "And now I'll play another Mask Change!"

"Another one?" Alexis asked.

"Jaden's just full of surprises." Zane smirked.

"Now Bubbleman, perform the transformation summon!" Bubbleman jumped up and donned a blue mask that appeared out of nowhere. He puts it on and like Clayman, his form was enveloped in light and his outfit changed. It was now another shade of blue, darker than the original blue. He also wielded a gun with a can–like barrel (8/ATK: 2600/DEF: 2100). "Meet Masked Hero Acid!"

"Whoa… that's lishus." Chumley commented.

"Yeah, wonder what _he_ does." Syrus added.

"Now his effect activates! When he's Special Summoned, he destroys all Spell and Trap cards on your side of the Field! And when he _does_, all of your Monster's lose 300 ATK. And in Litmus Doom Swordsman case, all of it since Non–Fusion Area is gonna be destroyed!" Bastion gasped as Acid shot out a shot of acid at the said card and destroyed it.

Litmus Doom Swordsman (8/ATK: 3000–0/DEF: 3000–0)

Oxygeddon (4/ATK: 1800–1500/DEF: 800)

"Masked Hero Acid, attack Litmus Doom Swordsman! Acid Spray Barrage!" The Masked Hero fired a barrage of acid at the swordsman. It didn't destroy him, but Bastion's Life Points are a different story.

**Bastion:** 0

**Jaden:** 300

* * *

Cheers erupted all around them as the monsters disappeared and the duel disks were turned off. Zane smiled, "I guess when it came to Jaden Yuki, Bastion miscalculated…" He mused.

"Yeah, either that or maybe there are some strategies you can't solve…" Alexis murmured as she went down to greet Jaden and the others.

Meanwhile, Crowler was wallowing in despair. He slowly sank to the floor, "Doesn't this slacker ever lose?"

Chancellor Sheppard rose from his seat, "So be it. Jaden Yuki, you will be our Singles Division Representative!"

Jaden grinned as all his friends leapt onto the platform, whooping and cheering.

"Way to play, Jay!" Syrus praised.

"Indeed," Bastion walked up to them while Alexis and Rachel also came up. "You beat me fair and square Jaden, or rather, you beat this _Deck_," he held up his defeated deck, "But you can be sure that there'll be another."

"And another duel," Jaden nodded, "Count on it!"

Bastion smiled and held out his hand. Jaden looked down at it, smiled, and slapped it before shaking it.

"Hey!" A voice called. Jaden and company turned to see Davis running towards them. "Did I miss anything?"

"You sure did! You just missed a great duel between me and Bastion! But that's alright, all ya need to know is that I won!" Jaden said. "Those Masked Heroes you gave me helped out."

"Oh did they? Well, I'm glad they did." Davis grinned.

"So you gave Jaden the Masked Heroes?" Bastion asked.

"Yeah. I thought they might help him for the School Duels. And before you say anything, no, I didn't know what kind of strategy you would use against Jaden beforehand Bastion. I wouldn't rat out any of my friends."

"I see. Well, good to know." Bastion said.

As the crowd continued to cheer, Jaden smiled and raised his arm in victory, "School Duel, get your game on!"

"Cause Duel Academy's gonna win!" Davis shouted.


	13. Chapter 13: School Duels Part 1

Chapter 13: School Duels Part 1

It's here! It's finally here! After what seemed like forever, after weeks of preparation and editing their decks, and finishing midterm exams which was beside the point, at long last, the day had come: The yearly–annual School Duels! And it was going to be extra special. Not only is the School Duels separated into the Single and Tag Team Divisions, not only is the School Duel, single elimination tournament style, the School Duels are gonna be WWE style too, when it comes to entrances! Reason being is because one of the competitors gave the idea, which the other schools didn't mind. And as a bonus, Justin Roberts will be announcing thanks to him getting some time off from WWE! How much more awesome can it get though! As of now, Jaden, Davis, and Rachel were at empty Main Arena meeting up before the competition showed. The crews were setting up the titantron props for the entrances too. Feeling psyched up, the Slifer had an idea…

"Hey guys, how about we call out our Monsters for the final rally?" Jaden said, turning on his duel disk.

"Sounds good to me!" Davis grinned as he turned on his duel disk.

"Why not?" Rachel smiled turning on her disk as well.

"C'mon out, Elemental Heroes Avian, Burstinatrix, Sparkman, Clayman, and Bubbleman!" Jaden smiled as his five heroes appeared, standing in front of him.

"Don't forget, Harpie Ladies 1, 2, 3, Harpie Queen, and Harpie Girl!" Rachel called out summoning out her Monsters.

"And last but not least, Bartman OOO, Ben 10, Pikachu, American Dream, and Spider-Girl!" Davis said summoning his five Monsters as well.

_"Yeah!"_ Bart and Ben cheered.

_"Pikachu!"_ Pikachu cried as he did a pose.

The smiles were on their faces, seeing their monsters joined to battle. "Yeah… we've got the sweetest Monsters ever!" Jaden cheered.

"With these guys on our side, North Academy's team is in trouble!" Davis said.

"And nothing's gonna stop us from doing that!" Rachel added.

_"You got _that_ right!"_ Spidey said.

_"And we'll go all the way to win it!"_ Shannon added.

"Hey guys!" Jaden turned to see Syrus and Alexis running into the arena.

"Hey Syrus, what's up?" Jaden asked.

"_There_ you guys are…" Syrus slowed to stop, "C'mon, everyone's waiting for you three!"

"What for?"

"The Meet 'n Greet, Jaden," Alexis answered, "The guys from North Academy are here! So you three better high tail it!"

"Well why didn't you say so?" Jaden leapt off the platform, his Monsters disappearing, "Let's go!"

"Right behind ya, Jay!" Davis ran after Jaden as his Monsters disappeared as well.

"So am I!" Rachel turned off her duel disk and followed after the boys. Syrus and Alexis then followed suit.

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

**omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

* * *

Meanwhile, Chancellor Sheppard, Crowler, and everyone else at the school were at the docks waiting as the North Academy's Chancellor stepped off of the bridge from the submarine. Sheppard beamed and shook the balding man's hand, "Foster, it's been far too long! You seem to be doing well."

"Yes, well, I've had plenty of time to recover after that defeat you handed to us at last year's School Duel." Foster chuckled.

"Oh, that was a long time ago," Sheppard said dismissively, "Besides, it was a close match."

"Not really," Foster smiled, "But I have a feeling that this year, it _will_ be."

Sheppard nodded, "Yes, I expect that as well! Well, here's to the spirited duels between the schools."

"Hear, hear." He then noticed Jaden, Davis, and Rachel. "And these must be the students representing your school, right?"

"That they are…"

Before the Chancellors continued, Jaden jumped in, "Enough with the 'hellos', I want to see my opponent!"

Sheppard lightly frowned at his Slifer student as he developed a big grin, "Yes Jaden, we were getting to that…"

"So Jaden Yuki is the one for the Singles Representative," Foster acknowledged, "Pretty risky for a Slifer Red to duel, but I can see a Wild Card from a mile away…"

"At least he's not insulting," Davis said to Rachel, who nodded.

"And that would make the Obelisks the Tag Team Reps," Foster said, acknowledging them both. _'At least I'm not expecting Zane Truesdale… the prize will be mine!'_

"So, c'mon, c'mon," Jaden kept urging everyone, "When do I get to meet my opponent!?"

"Soon, young man. But first, let me introduce _my_ Tag Team Representatives!" Foster smiled as his representatives came out of the sub… well two of them… "For your Tag Team Division, I give you Mikalass Jones and Hank Saban…" The first, Mikalass Jones, was an African American with an afrolike hair, brown eyes, and wore a white shirt with a brown jacket over it, red pants, brown shoes, and a gold medallion with a fist and words that says "Soul Power!" on it. The second, Hank Saban, had tanned skin, also American with comb–backed black hair, blue eyes, he wore a shirt with some sort of insect logo, an open brown North Academy sleeveless jacket, blue pants, and black boots.

"You suckas better get ready, cuz the Jones has arrived," Jason announced, raising his hands like he won something big. He then eyed the competition, "You foos have nothing on us from North Academy…"

"Hey, Jones," Hank interjected, "Remember, you got me with you… we'll have to share that opportunity in this Duel–Off…"

"Sure…" Mikalass scoffed, "Just don't hold me back…"

"So _this_ is where you ended up," Davis said in mock surprise, though failing at it.

"Well, whaddya know? It's a small world after all," Hank said as he noticed Davis.

"You know him?" Jaden asked.

"A friend of mine," the Avenger duelist stated. He then then walked over to Hank to give him a handshake to which the latter returned. "How you've been man?"

"Doing great. North Academy's been doing me some good too."

"Still, I can't believe you're part of the Tag Team Rep for North Academy." Davis smiled.

"Sure is." Hank grinned. But then his face got a bit serious. "So Davis… any luck with… you know…"

Davis knew what he meant and sighed, "No…"

"Hey don't worry, you'll find her." Hank said looking at him sympathetically, putting on hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you will, you just have to keep searching and not give up."

"Yeah, thanks." Davis smiled a bit.

"So, uh, where's the Singles Rep for your Academy?" Jaden asked the two.

"Right here, slacker," Jaden and the others turned around in the direction that the strangely familiar voice had come from.

"Who said that?" the brunette Slifer asked.

The students from the sub separated and revealed the person standing behind them. Jaden, Rachel and Davis were surprised to see Chazz. "Whoa! That's a surprise!" Rachel stated.

"Hold on a sec! Am I seeing things, or is that really Chazz?" Jaden gasped.

"You got _that_ right!" Chazz shouted, now clad in a black blazer.

"Well, why are you here?"

"For the duel…"

"I think it sold out."

"I'm _in_ it!"

Jaden was visibly confused by this. "What? As a ref?"

"I'm dueling _you_!" Chazz answered, annoyed by Jaden's thick headedness.

"You mean, it's _you_? _You're_ North Academy's Singles Rep?"

"Since when did you transfer?" Rachel wondered.

"Since I stopped getting the respect I deserved here." Chazz retorted.

"Like you deserved _any_ of it…" Davis retorted.

"Shut it, Avenger Reject! It didn't take North Academy long to see that I get it… And with me leading North Academy, they won't suffer another defeat by Duel Academy." He then eyed the rest of the competition. "All of you are just speed bumps on my way to the top…"

Everyone around was surprised when they heard the sound of helicopter blade whirring, and the wind that kicked up in the area as a result. They looked up and saw two choppers hovering in the air above them. The door of one opened up and revealed two men in suits and ties. They both had the same hair color as Chazz, though one's was longer and he had a shot beard, and both had identical grins on their faces. "Hi Chazz."

"What's going on little brother? Mind if we drop in?"

"Slade?! Jagger?! Why are _you_ here!?" Chazz demanded with a serious expression on his face.

"Why else? To celebrate your big dueling victory," Jagger explained as their helicopter landed on the top of one of the warehouse buildings.

"You _are_ going to win, right Chazz?"

The area was then flooded by a hoard of cameras, wires, microphones and other such broadcasting equipment, as well as the people who came with it. "That's it, just act natural," one of them said from his post in a crane, while the guy next to him held the camera pointed at the older Princeton brothers.

Another pair of TV crewmembers pointed their equipment towards the four chancellors. "Uhhh, what's going on here?" Foster asked.

"What's going on!?" the microphone guy spoke up. "I think you mean '_when_ are you going on!?' And the answer is primetime baby! This school duel's gonna be broadcasted worldwide!"

"No way!" Jaden exclaimed, "Me on TV?! My face beamed across the world?! In full HD color and full HD stereo?!" Jaden's face was in fact on multiple screens in the equipment vans and across the world.

"Down, boy. Stay…" Davis said. "Though I _will_ say it's surprising…"

"True," Chancellor Sheppard added, "We never broadcast our School Duels to anyone; well maybe privately to the owner, but that's it."

"At least we can say that everyone back home would watch us duel," Rachel shrugged.

"Or right here," A voice called out from behind. The Obelisks turned around, with Rachel gasping. Davis was surprised thinking he was seeing double as the woman behind them was nearly a spitting image of Rachel in terms of looks and figure. She had brown hair with blonde highlights that went down to the back of her neck, and dressed in a dark blue business suit that had a skirt down to her knees with white high heels. "Hello, Rachel," She smiled.

"Mom," Rachel smiled back as both of them shared a hug. After the embrace, the Harpy Duelist was confused a little, "But how did you know about this?"

"I do work for the broadcast team, remember?" Ms. Figueroa asked. "The Princeton's had paid the station a lot of money to have this School Duel–Off broadcasted, personal reasons aside. At least I could see my daughter duel and see how she's coming along in her studies."

"Well, everything's fine." The Obelisk girl replied.

Ms. Figueroa looked at Davis who was still stunned at the likeness of both women and smile, "And who's _this_ charming young man?"

The Avenger duelist couldn't help but blush at the statement, as Rachel saw it and held in a giggle before making introductions, "This is Davis Eitoku; he and I are in the Tag Team Division. Davis, this is my mother Angelina."

"Uh… it's nice to meet you, Ms. Figueroa." Davis said, regaining his composure.

"Likewise…" Angelina replied. She then leaned in to her daughter's ear and whispered, "So… is he your boyfriend?"

"Mom!" Rachel hissed back.

"I'm just asking," Angelina grinned. "Rachels, you've bloomed into a beautiful young woman and you've left a trail of broken hearts ever since. What really gets me is how you don't notice. A lot of those boys and their mothers back home would've committed murder to have to get serious with their daughters. Remember that nice boy from prep school?"

"You mean the one who kept peppering me with chocolates?" Rachel sighed, her face a flaming red. Her mother was _always_ like this! Whenever they were apart for any length of time she would immediately begin asking questions about her social life and if it wasn't up to what she felt was proper for a girl her age she'd start talking about all of the 'missed opportunities' that other girls supposedly would've given their right arms for.

"Pepper you with chocolates?" Davis raised an eyebrow. It wasn't everyday he got dirt on Rachel and she already had some on him. _'My turn.'_

"Oh my, yes!" Angelina smiled. "She just threw them away every time. All of the girls were calling her crazy for ignoring such romantic attempts and with how handsome and proper he was. My friends were asking if she was crazy too."

"Mom… Davis…" Rachel grit her teeth.

"And then another boy was the heir of some big corporation who was studying abroad. He would try to woo Rachel with all sorts of gifts and things but she never even seemed too excited over it all," Angelina continued, placing a finger on her cheek. "Then there was that dueling prodigy who's a big duelist on the pro circuit now that called her his greatest inspiration, that creative artist who made a portrait of her, that foreign boy who we all thought was hidden royalty…"

_"It seems you picked one heck of a girl,"_ May laughed. _"She draws a crowd_ wherever _she goes."_

"She had all those prime opportunities and she just never seemed interested in those boys even though all of them had hordes of fan girls going gaga over them," Angelina sighed, crocodile tears running down her cheeks. "All of my friends were shocked, wondering if my little Rachel had her head on straight thinking all about dueling instead of boys and shopping. Why, they already give me condolences for never becoming a grandmother."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Davis sighed, trying his hardest not to break out laughing.

"MOM!" Rachel shouted out, her face doing a fine imitation of a tomato. So _what_ if she didn't go nuts over boys like almost all of her female friends did? She was more interested in dueling than dating and that was _her_ business. Besides, all of those other guys were use to looking for a trophy girlfriend and if there was one thing Rachel had sworn she'd never do, it would be _that_. Although she would always get into this comedy scene with her mother whenever they met up, she felt more embarrassed that Davis was there to witness it.

"I'm just teasing you dear. Well, anyways, I'll see you two there at the arena. I can't wait to see you two duel." And with that, Angelina left for her destination.

"Well then, everyone let's head to the arena!" Chancellor Sheppard announced and with that, everyone headed over there leaving only Davis and Rachel.

"Your mom's really funny."

"Oh shut up," Rachel grumbled. "And if you repeat any of what she said to anyone, you'll wish I killed you in the hot springs."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Davis defended himself. "Well, not without details from your mom anyway."

"Davis…"

"Just kidding. But that aside though, I can tell your mom seems nice."

"When she isn't embarrassing me, yeah she is."

"Just wish _my_… mom were here…" Davis trailed off.

"I know," Rachel nodded, patting his shoulder. "Speaking of that, how's the search going?"

"Not good." Davis sighed. "I still don't have a clue where my mom is and I still can't figure out who Narutaki is despite knowing that he and my mom were in on the Avenger Project. There were a lot of people who were in on it, it's just a matter of deducting of who it is, and even _that's_ a pain. And adding on to searching for your brother, which unfortunately, I still have no lead on, it's been very stressful."

"Well, don't stress out too much over it," Rachel smiled, hiding her disappointment at hearing no news. "You've got plenty of other things to keep your mind on."

"Yeah, I know."

"And you'll get your answers. You just have to be patient."

"Mm. You're right…"

And then out of the blue, Rachel hugged Davis to his surprise, before she let go. "Everything's going to be okay, trust me."

"Mn," Davis nodded, returning the hug. "Thanks Rach…" He smiled gently.

"You're welcome." Rachel smiled back gently. "Now let's go. We don't want to be late for the Duel–Off."

"Right." And with that, the two of them ran to meet up with the crowd.

* * *

It's now time for the School Duels to finally commence!

All the spectators had now gathered in their seats at the arena where the duels would be happening. The students from their respective Academies were seated in one general area, making them separate and equal. The two chancellors were sitting together with the North Academy group. A group of crane arms, each with a cameraman and another crewman, were positioned around the platform in the middle, so that they would be able to cover every angle there was. "That's it everyone, lots of energy," The man with a megaphone in his hand said. "Remember, the whole world's watching you live! Now let's cheer these duelists on!" The four groups of students continued to do so.

"Attention students!" Sheppard rose from his seat, the other Chancellors following suit, "Welcome to the School Duel–Off between our two schools! It will feature our mini–tournament so that fair play will be enforced!"

"There will be our Singles and our Tag Team Divisions that will decide the overall victor," Foster followed. He then raised a hand, "And now…"

"Let this year's competition begin!" They cried.

The crowd cheered wildly as Sheppard looked to his right hand man, "Dr. Crowler, explain how this Duel–Off work!"

"With pleasure, Chancellor Sheppard," Crowler walked onto the platform, a microphone in his hand and a camera crew moving around the platform, "Now as you know, this year's School Duel will be separated into a Single and Tag Team Division! And now we will start with the Tag Team Division! Duelists prepare for battle!"

* * *

Meanwhile, while everyone was getting settle in the arena, Chazz sat in a locker room, with his brothers standing across from him. They wanted to have a little private chat with him before things started. "You set this all up, didn't you? This broadcast."

Slade turned to him, "Of course we did! We need to show the whole world that you're on your way to be Duel Monsters best, Chazz. It's all in the plan…"

"Yeah yeah…" Chazz looked away, "I know, I know!"

"World domination is on our grasp, Little Brother," Slade went on, "Politics, finance and Duel Monsters! If we can take them all, we can take the world! Jagger and I have done our part, it's time you come through with your part of the plan!"

"To conquer the world of Duel Monsters," Jagger urged, "To be the best! To not give up!" He glared at his younger brother, "Did you really think you could get away from your duties? Get away from us by dropping out of Duel Academy?"

Chazz lowered his head, "I… I…"

"Don't deny it!" Jagger yelled, rising to his feet, "You've always been the slacker of this family!"

Slade folded his arms, "It doesn't matter, the point is that you can still make this up, Chazz! You can still show everyone that we reign supreme!"

"That's right," Jagger reached over and picked up a nearby briefcase, "And the dueling cards in this case will help you do just that! They're the most expensive out there, so you have no excuse to lose!" he dropped the case onto the bench across from his brother, "Don't let us down, Chazz! "Don't let the Princeton family down! Now get out there and win that duel!"

"It doesn't matter about that tag duel tournament, but when you win, the world will know that the Princeton's are the best!" Slade ended.

With that, Chazz was left alone in the locker room, his only company was the briefcase of rare cards in front of him. He stood up and walked to the nearest sink, head hung low. He stood there in silence, the words of his brothers fresh in his mind. "Man up…man up… MAN UP!"

Chazz raised his arms and pounded on the mirror, "Man up, Chazz! Show them that Chazz Princeton is no slacker, that you're worthy of the Princeton name!" he then punched it. So hard, that the mirror actually broke and made a web of cracks as his knuckles bled from the shards of glass. He sank to his knees not caring about the pain from his knuckle. He was more focused on the emotional pain he's in, "Show them that you can win… and that you can keep… winning…" Tears leaked from his eyes, "Show them that your supreme… show them that you can still win…" He punched the floor with his other hand, "Go and win, go and win!"

While Chazz had his little breakdown, he didn't notice Jaden's reflection in the mirror.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a hallway where it leads to the platform with a Titantron screen above the entrance, Davis and Rachel were getting their Duel Disks and Decks ready as soon as they heard who's facing who.

"Our entrances are gonna be sweet." Davis said. "I have to hand it to the guy who had the idea of having us enter WWE style."

"No kidding." Rachel agreed.

"And the song you chose is great. The lyrics fit you well… for the most part."

"Hey guys!" A voice called. The Obelisks turned around to see Jaden running up towards them.

"What's up Jaden?" Davis asked.

"You won't believe what happened, I overheard Chazz talking earlier in the locker room and well, he was… breaking down."

"Breaking down?" Rachel asked raising an eyebrow.

"That's not like Chazz." Davis said.

"Yeah, it's just too bad that one of us has to lose this duel. I kinda know where he's coming from now. From what I hear, it's not exactly an easy place…"

"What's it about?" Davis asked.

"He kept saying something about being worthy of the Princeton name, or something." The E–Hero duelist pondered.

"Talk about pressure," Rachel figured. "Then again, TV cameras are here because of Chazz's brothers paying my mother's company, not this whole event."

"And then, when his brothers asked would he win," Davis added. "They could be the reason why he tries to do everything in his power to win… well; you worry about that when you duel Chazz, Jaden. I'm sure you can figure something out."

"Yeah, RachelAlexis, this is it, you ready?" Davis asked.

"You know it." Davis answered.

* * *

"And now allow me to introduce our announcer for this event! From World Wrestling Entertainment, please give a warm welcome to Justin Roberts!" The crowd cheered as the man in question took to the platform.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your opening contest is the Tag Team match!" Justin announced. At one end of the Arena, the titantron showed a picture of a fist with a red X on it clenching on a thunderbolt with four stars, two on each side of the fist. The background had a thick white stripe in the middle, the top and bottom of the screen black.

_BZZZZT! BZZZZT!_

**(Taio Cruz - Dynamite)**

Mikalass and Hank come out of the entrance and the North Academy did most of the cheering. Hank stopped midway because Mikalaas stopped midway as he knelt on one knee, feeling the ground with his hand and rubbing his fingers, then looked at his wrist as if checking it is, he then takes off his jacket halfway and spreads his arms out shouting, "It's Hamma Time!" He then got up and punched forward before turning around showing the back of his shirt that said 'Hamma Time!' while his jacket was halfway off walking backwards a bit before turning around again to walk forward and have his jacket back up. Hank sighed and shook his head as he followed him to the platform.

"Introducing first, representing North Academy, the team of Mikalaas Jones and Hank Saban!" Justin announced with the North Academy students cheered as their tag team representatives made their way up to the platform. The song died down as the North Academy tag team awaited their opponents. On the opposite side of the arena, the Titantron there, showed a pink background with the name Rachel Figueroa in big letters.

**(Lil' Mama Ft. Chris Brown and T-Pain – Shawty Get Loose)**

Rachel came out of the other entrance on the opposite side and the Duel Academy students cheered as she made her way to the platform. "And their opponent's first… representing Duel Academy, Rachel Figueroa!" The crowd cheered loudly and as she got up to the platform and waved to the Duel Academy crowd.

Rachel's theme music died down and the Titantron now showed a logo that was silver and white. It was the Avengers logo on a Medal like Bartman OOO's.

**(Less Than Jake – All My Best Friends Are Metalheads)**

Smoke came out from small smoke machine props imbedded in the ground that covered the whole entrance Rachel came out of. A few seconds later into the song, Davis came out of that smoke and the crowd cheered loudly. "And her Tag Team partner, Davis Eitoku!" Justin announced which the Duel Academy crowd cheered at. Davis walked halfway towards the platform and stopped. He then spreads his legs out, then did the famous pose from a certain Kamen Rider shouting, "Ore...Sanjou!" which got the crowd cheering as well. As soon as the pyro was done, Davis walked over to his place on the platform next to Rachel and the music died down.

"Good luck you guys." Hank said.

"And you're gonna need it; because you're facing the Jones!" Mikalaas shouted.

"Say that again, _after _you win the tournament, which you won't since you're pitted against us." Davis shot back as he took out his Deck out of its box.

"And it's not gonna be easy taking us down!" Rachel added. "So let's go, boys!"

"Beetle Blast!" Hank called out placing his Deck into his disk and it went from standby to active. Everyone else turned on their Duel Disks, as the crowd cheered their favorite side.

* * *

"DUEL!" The players said, drawing their starting Hands.

**Duel Academy:** 8000

**North Academy:** 8000

"Visitors first," Mikalaas shouted as he drew his sixth card, and then played one of his cards, "Especially to those who demand respect; I play Double Summon, allowing me to summon Cream Corn and Bullhorn!" In a flash, two African American men; one with a red beret (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1100) and the other with curly purple-tinted hair appeared on the field.

"Then I activate Bullhorn's special ability, Once per turn, I increase his ATK. Then I end my turn." He said his his monster powers up.

Bullhorn (4/ATK: 1700–2100/DEF: 1100)

"To what you were saying earlier; respect is earned, not given," Rachel stated as she drew her sixth card next, "I play Cyber Harpy Lady!" A version of the Obelisk Girl's red–haired harpy came out, spinning out of the card image and landed gracefully in front. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1300) "And then I'll place one card facedown."

"I'll move next," Hank announced, drawing his next card, "I summon Dragon Shooter Beetleborg!" An cybernetic warrior appeared. And like the name suggested, he looks like a dragonfly. (4/ATK: 1450/DEF: 1300) "Followed by a facedown card." He concluded, inserting his card.

"I'm last," Davis said, drawing his sixth card, "I summon Power Fist in ATK mode!" A man dressed in a green and gold costume with black pants appeared. His right fist seemed to glow with power (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400). _"I'm ready Davis."_

"Then one facedown and that's all from me." He concluded.

"Everyone's taken the first turn and now everyone can start attacking." Alexis stated.

"My move once again," Mikalaas announced, drawing his next card. "Now I activate the Spell, Banner of Courage!" He inserted his Continuous Spell card next, letting a large banner appear behind his monsters, "This will up my monster's ATK by 200 during my Battle Phase or my partner's!" He then snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah, my partner's monster has a little trick he can do." Davis and Rachel looked warily at the field as their opponent made his next move. "Dragon Shooter Beetleborg, attack!"

"Huh!?" Everyone except for Davis and the North Academy side gasped as the Beetleborg took out his Beetle Laser and shot at the DA duo.

"What was that?" Jaden wondered.

"My Dragon Shooter has the ability to inflict 600 points of Damage once per turn." Hank explained.

"Now that done, Bullhorn gains another 400 ATK points!" Bullhorn cracked his knuckles, feeling more pumped to attack.

_"With 2500 ATK, there's no stoppin' that!" _The monster rhymed.

Bullhorn (4/ATK: 2100–2500/DEF: 1100)

"Now he can beat all of their Monsters!" Syrus gasped.

"Especially with Banner of Courage when they move to the Battle Phase!" Bastion added.

The Banner of Courage started glowing with the North Academy duelists cheering for the added power.

Bullhorn (4/ATK: 2500–2700/DEF: 1100)

Cream Corn (3/ATK:1300-1500/DEF:1300)

Dragon Blaster Beetleborg (4/ATK: 1450–1650/DEF: 1300)

"Take this sucka!" Mikalaas shouted, "Bullhorn, attack Cyber Harpie Lady!" The pimp charged in, raising his fist to strike the harpy…

"Not so fast," Rachel countered, revealing her facedown card, "Go Double Passé! Now I take the attack!" Bullhorn suddenly punch around the dancer and hit Rachel instead with one punch.

**Duel Academy: **5300

**North Academy:** 8000

_"Someone_ wants a cap in her ass," Mikalaas shrugged.

"Since your Monster hit me, my trap allows the Monster you tried to attack to come after you," Rachel continued, recovering from the hit. The Cyber Harpie Lady gracefully flew across the field and landed a powerful slash to Mikalaas' chest.

**Duel Academy:** 5300

**North Academy:** 6200

"Nice work," Davis praised. Rachel nodded back.

"Oh well," Mikalaas said, "I end my turn."

The Banner of Courage stopped glowing as the other monsters returned to their last power.

Bullhorn (4/ATK: 2700–2500/DEF: 1100)

Cream Corn (3(ATK:1500-1300/DEF:1300)

Dragon Shooter Beetleborg (4/ATK: 16500–1450/DEF: 1300)

"It's my move," Rachel announced, drawing her next card, "I play Double Summon, allowing me to summon two monsters this turn! So come out Battlestorm and Harpie Queen!" Harpie Queen (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200) appeared on the Field, along with another monster similiar to the Harpies except he's a mix of them and Batman (4/ATK: 1700/DEF:1000).

"Nice, but that's not enough to take down that monster." Bastion nodded.

"That's not _all_ she could," Alexis added.

"And then, I'll activate Battlestorm's effect!" Rachel continued, "Since I have three Winged-Beast Monsters out, not only does he get 100 ATK for each of them on the field,he can destroy a Spell or Trap card on your side of the Field! So say goodbye to your Banner!" The North Academy team gasped as Battlestorm charged and destroyed the Banner in one swoop. It made Chazz growling and his eye twitching.

Battlestorm (4/ATK: 1700-2000/DEF: 1000)

"And then I activate Hysteric Party, now all I need to do is discard one card in my hand and then I can Special Summon as many Harpie Ladies as I want, so I send another Harpie Queen, which will also allow me to gain Harpies' Hunting Ground from my Deck, and bring in Harpie Ladies 1 and 2!" She stated as she drew the said card and two of the Sisters appeared x2 (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1400). "I will then activate Harpies' Hunting Ground! This gives my monsters a 200 ATK boost, which is all that Battlestorm needs to destroy Bullhorn!"

Battlestorm (4/ATK: 2000-2700/DEF: 1000)

Harpie Lady 1 (4/ATK: 1300-1800/DEF: 1400)

Harpie Lady 2 (4/ATK: 1300-1800/DEF: 1400)

Harpie Queen (4/ATK: 1900-2400/DEF: 1400)

Cyber Harpie Lady (4/ATK: 1800-2300/DEF: 1300)

"Battlestorm, attack Bullhorn with Dark Knight Slash!" Rachel ordered as the dark creature went on and gave Bullhorn a slash in the chest, destroying him into pixels.

**Duel Academy:** 5300

**North Academy:** 6000

"Bullhorn, no!" Mikalaas cried.

"Sweet, we're ahead!" Jaden cheered in his section.

"Then my Queen will attack. Harpie Queen, destroy Dragon Shooter Beetleborg!" Rachel declared as the Queen clawed at the Beetleborg, destroying him in the process.

**Duel Academy:** 5300

**North Academy:** 5050

"Cyber Harpie Lady, attack Cream Corn!" Rachel commanded as the Harpie charged at the Monster.

_"Oh (bleep)! Not again! MOMMA!" _was all the monster said before being destroyed.

**Duel Academy:** 5300

**North Academy:** 4050

"Finally, all my Harpies will take care of the rest!" Rachel concluded.

"We're defenseless!" Mikalaas panicked.

"Not so, 'cause I activate Mirror Force! All of your monsters in ATK mode are destroyed!" The Mirror Force reflected the Harpies' attacks and destroyed the rest of the monsters, including Carl.

"Damn. He got us there." Davis muttered.

"I end with a facedown." Rachel said.

"She's good," Hank nodded, "No matter what, she's got us defenseless."

"Boy," Mikalaas shouted, "Don't praise your opponents! They're not better than us cause' we should still have the upper hand now!"

"I agree," the Beetleborg Duelist said, "Just taking note. Besides, I know how to beat her and give us a solid lead and victory afterwards."

"Well, get to it!"

Hank sighed, as he drew his next card. "Looks like there's one move I can make. I play Bug Out! This allows me to summon up to 3 Beetleborgs to my field! So come out Blue Stinger Beetleborg, Red Striker Beetleborg, and Green Hunter Beetleborg!" Three silhouettes appeared with strange insect-like devices in their hands; one a hercules beetle, a stag beetle, and a ladybug. They held their device into the air and shouted,

**"Beetle Blast!"**

With that said, the three underwent a transformation, revealing cyber-like warriors styled after the insect-like devices. The blue one is called the Blue Stinger Beetleborg (4/ATK: 1750/DEF: 1300), the green one is the Green Hunter Beetleborg (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1200), and the red one is the Red Striker Beetleborg (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000).

"Great job," Davis noted. "You brought out the good ol' three already…"

_"Hey, it's Davis!" _the Red Striker Beetleborg said, noticing the Avenger Duelist and waving at him. _"Hi, Davis!"_

_"Jo, not now." _The Blue Stinger Beetleborg said, calming his sister._ "We're in a Duel, right now."_

_"Besides, we'll get reacquiantted with him and his monsters later,ok?" _The Green Hunter Beetleborg added.

_"Fine!"_ the red one, whose name is Jo, groaned.

"Anyways," Hank continued, "Guys, attack them directly!" As the Beetleborgs rushed towards the duo, each took out their pulsabers and one by one gave a powerful blow to their Life Points.

**Duel Academy:** 50

**North Academy:** 4050

Foster and the North Academy crowd erupted in cheers seeing that their team was ahead. "Well now, Sheppard," Foster grinned, "It seems my boys are well on their way to victory. You can kiss that prize goodbye seeing as your only hope rests in the Deck of a low–ranked student in the Singles competition."

"Don't you start," the Duel Academy Chancellor snapped, "My duelists will make a comeback!"

"Let's see if that holds true…"

Back on the field, Mikalaas laughed. "They sure got burned! Could do without losing so much on Life Points, but they're beneath us!"

"Gotta make do with opportunities," Hank replied, as he looked towards his opponents. "That's all from me…"

"Whoa," Davis said, "Again, you brought out the Big Bad Three in order to give us 5250 points of Damage."

"He may have gotten it from me using my all Harpie combo earlier," Rachel figured. "But now, let's get back into the game."

"Right," Davis said. "My move!" Davis drew his next card. And when he drew and looked at it, he looked at his opponents with a devious smirk on his face making Ryan and Jason looked a bit unnerved.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

The Duel Academy crowd was oohing and ahhing with excitement and then cheered while the North Academy crowd were murmuring amongst one another in worry.

"I'm sorry, the sucka said what now?" Mikalaas blinked.

"We're screwed." Hank stated, having to know what Davis meant.

"Oh yeah! This duel is as good as ours!" Sheppard cheered. "Your tag team is done for Foster!"

"Your students haven't won yet." Foster argued.

"Ohhh, that's where you're wrong Foster," Sheppard said. "With Davis, whenever he draws the card he needs and says that this is it, the duel's over!"

"Sweet! Davis called it!" Jaden cheered.

"This duel's over!" Alexis grinned.

"You got it?" Rachel smiled.

"Yep. This duel's over. I play the card that will win us this duel! I summon Ben 10 in ATK mode!" The teen hero appeared, ready for some action (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500). "Then I activate his special ability, which allows me to put him back into my Deck in order to summon an Omnitrix monster from my Hand or Deck. And Ben, I think I got the right one for the job!"

_"Sweet! Now I can bring him out!" _Ben said as he pressed the Omnitrix, transforming into a muscular tiger-like humanoid with no tail and a claw on each of his hands AKA Rath (8/ATK:3000/DEF:2500).

"LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN' NORTH ACADEMY! RATH IS GONNA TAKE YA DOWN AND WIN THIS MATCH!" The monster yelled, which is normal in his case.

"Seriously?" Jason scoffed. "Even if that monster is powerful enough to destroy any of our monsters, we'll still have LP. So how are ya gonna win?" The North Academy students started to laugh, thinking they're gonna win.

"You won't be so happy after this," Dais replied, Now I play the Spell, Avengers Assemble! With this card, I draw until I get up to 4 Level 1-4 Monsters, then Special Summon them to the field!"

"WHAT?!" Mikalaas yelled.

"Yep. Definitely screwed." Hank stated again.

Davis then drew until he has what he needed. "I special summon American Dream, Wild Thing, and Bartman OOO!"

Once that was declared, Rath shouted out the team's battle cry.

**"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"**

With that call, comes out Shannon (4/Atk:1800/DEF:2100), Laura (4/Atk:2100/DEF:1400), and a silouhette of a man with a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots on his waist. He took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! ****TIGER! ****GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor. Becoming Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"NO!" Foster yelled. "This can't be happening!" The North Academy were crying as they saw that it's over.

"Oh it's happening alright!" Davis said. "And now to finish you off! Avengers, attack the Beetleborgs!"

_"With pleasure."_ American Dream said as she struck out at the Green Hunter Beetleborg with her shield, destroying the latter into pixels.

**Duel Academy:** 50

**North Academy:** 3950

_"Roland!"_ The other two shouted as they saw their friend destroyed.

"Now for Bartman's turn. And he also gets 100 ATK/DEF points for every monster on the field and now there are 7." Davis explained.

Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000-2700/DEF: 2000-2700)

Bart then took out his Medal Scanner before swipes it onto his belt for a finisher.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

He then jumped and, as three circles corresponding to his Medals appear, went through them before ending with a powerful kick at Jo, which destroyed her.

**Duel Academy:** 50

**North Academy:** 3050

Davisa then turned to Rachel, "Rachel, shall we?"

"Gladly," She replied and then turned to the North Academy Team, "Wild Thing!"

"Rath!" Davis shouted.

"Attack the last Beetleborg and wipe out their Life points!" They shouted in unison.

Both Avengers growled and charged at the NA duelists. While that happens, Laura jumped and unsheathed her Adamantium claws as she descends for the final blow. Finally, the Duelists felt the hit as the two heroes slashed at them as their Life Points were depleted.

**Duel Academy:** 50

**North Academy:** 0

* * *

**(Less Than Jake – All My Best Friends Are Metalheads)**

The Duel Academy crowed cheered loudly as the holograms disappeared and the duels disks deactivated. Davis'theme song played throughout the arena as Justin Roberts announced, "The winner of this match: The team of Rachel Figueroa and Davis Eitoku!"

Davis and Rachel gave each other high fives. "That's a win for us!" Rachel said.

"Yep! And we're gonna win it all!" Kurogasa added.

"Yeah!" Jaden cheered.

"They won!" Alexis cheered as well.

"Way to play!" Syrus added.

"That was a totally lishus duel those two did." Chumley said.

"Yes, they played their cards well." Bastion smiled. "And I'm sure they'll take that all the way."

"They'll make Duel Academy proud." Zane added.

"That's my girl." Angelina smiled.

"Grrrrr…" Foster growled.

"I told you so Foster." Sheppard chuckled.

"So what!? You're Singles Rep, still has to go through my Singles Rep!" Foster snapped. "Mark my words, that prize _will _be mine!"


	14. Chapter 14: School Duels Part 2

Chapter 14: School Duel Part 2

At the stands, Davis and Rachel walked over to meet up with their Duel Academy friends and Rachel's mom Angelina. "Ooooooh, I'm so proud of you Rachel! You and Davis were so impressive out there!" Angelina smiled as she gave her daughter a hug.

"Thanks, mom…" Rachel said with a smile on her face.

At the same time, Felecia appears next to Davis and patted his shoulders happily. _"My,my._ _I__t seems like my apprentice has took one step further to become a man. You've already done the introduction, the love gaze, the hand touch and the hug. All that's left is the kiss from her and you will finally become a man, Davis!"_ Felecia praised her owner.

_'Shut up__.'_ Davis hissed in his thoughts.

_"Awwww, you don't have to be shy about that. I'm just glad that you're starting to finally become a man."_ Felecia continued. It is then Felecia has been kicked aside by Bart.

_"Screw that, Felecia! That's not the point right now!"_ Bart said in annoyance before shifting his focus and holding onto Davis' shoulders. _"I know that the duel you had is one hell of a battle! But there's one slight problem…"_ Bart said before he took a brief pause before continuing on with an angry tone. _"WHY DIDN'T YOU USE ANY OF MY NEW FORMS IN THE BATTLE AS WELL?! Why did you use one of Ben's forms instead of me?! I could've looked cool attackin' in those forms!"_

_"Shut up, Bart!__"_ Cassie shouted as she knocked out Bart with an iron baseball bat, making him unconscious and allowing her to drag him without difficulty as they disappeared.

"Now the only duel left is between Jaden and Chazz." Zane stated.

"Yeah, and I'm hoping that Jay will bring another win to our Academy, just like you two had!" Syrus said.

"Yeah, that would only make things more lishus and maybe we could celebrate with grilled cheese!" Chumley noted.

"We know that you had your own business with him, but from the looks of it, I don't think that Chazz is fooling around anymore." Alexis said to Jaden.

"Hmm…" Davis pondered.

"What is it?" Rachel asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing." Davis said. "I'll be right back guys." He said and with that he left his friends making the latter confused for a bit. Davis went towards an empty hallway where there were no people and once the coast is clear, he stopped running. "Bart, Ben, Cassie, Luffy, May, I need to talk with you guys."

The said five Avenger spirits appreared. _"Sure, Davis." _Ben said._ "What's up?"_

"Okay guys, you've heard from Jaden earlier today about how Chazz is right?" asked Davis.

_"The one who's being pressured down by his brothers, right?"_ Spidey took note.

_"Pweh, I _knew_ I smell a rat when I'm looking at one."_ Bart said, while saying those words referring to Slade and Jagger.

_"What is your plan, Davis?"_ Cassie asked.

"Here's what we're gonna do…" Davis began.

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman," Justin Roberts announced. "This is the Singles match scheduled for–"

**(LMFAO– "Get Crazy")**

Everyone was now turning towards one end of the Titantron entrances confused. They didn't know whose entrance this was at first, but then it was clear when that person came out of the entrance. It was… Pauly D?! Most of the students were shocked to see one of the cast of the Jersey Shore came out to this tournament, even the Chancellors were surprised to see his appearance in the flesh.

"W–What?! Is this for real?!" Foster was the one who recovered from the shock. "What is his purpose of being here?"

"I don't know. We didn't plan for _this_ sort of surprises…" Sheppard added.

"Whoa! You've got to be kidding me! Pauly D?! In the flesh?!" Hank shouted in surprise.

"The man I respected the most is actually here! If it wasn't for him, there's no way I'll know about GTL!" Rachel said as most of the students are now cheering for his sudden arrival.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, from the Jersey Shore, Mr. Pauly D!" Justin Roberts announced. At this point, Pauly D took the microphone that was offered by Justin and began to speak.

"Thank you Justin. You kids might wondering why did I come here in the first place or better yet, how in the world did I know about this tournament, WWE style?" he asked, making some of the students murmured among themselves. "Well, let me tell you why! When I heard that Justin Roberts got invited to do his thing in this place and borrowing some of the music and videos that was used for the VMA Awards, at first, my schedule was really tight because of planning for my next concert!" he began his speech, which makes the students cheers happily.

"And what's the point of coming here in the first place?" Mikalaas asked himself while listening carefully to what the guido DJ said.

"But, the meetings ended faster than I expected and I manage to take my time to get here and will you look at that? I'm right on time to see the final match of the School Duels!" he added while shifting his attention to the cameras. "I got three reasons to attend here. First of all… well Snooki and J-Woww had some expierence with WWE but they couldn't make it due to their schedule. So I filled in for them. Second… well, I'm the Guest of Honor, for sure…" he said with a chuckle before getting his focus to the students. "And third…"

At this point, his assistant walks towards his direction, carrying something that was covered in red cloth. This raises the curiosity of most of the students. When his assistant is next to him, he walks towards her while holding the red cloth. "…what better way to give the prizes to the winners of these duels, WWE style?" he said and as he uncovers it, the students and teachers were surprised to see what was on the tray.

On the tray were three belts. Two of them were WWE Tag Team styled championship belts, only the difference is, the belts were silver with blue outlining all around. The smaller plates had the Millennium eyes on them and the center plate had a Duel Monsters card and in front of that were the Millennium Scales. And it had the words, Duel Monsters Tag Team Champion.

The other gold was gold and World Heavyweight Championship styled. Floral patterns on it. The two small square plates bordering the center also had the Millennium Eye. The center plate had the Duel Monster card and in front of that was the Millennium Puzzle flanked by two Millennium Keys. And it had the words, Duel Monsters Champion.

Everyone at the arena was impressed about seeing the belt. It was nicely made and the decorations on it seems fit for the theme, dueling.

"And they were able to make this on a whim too, go figure." Pauly D chuckled. "And that's just the _beginning_ of something good!" Pauly D continues on, getting their attention back to him. "The winner of this tournament not only receives these belts, but also, a little bit of sponsor from me!" he said as he took out three passes that writes V.I.P. from his jacket and raises it high. "With these VIP passes, not _only_ that you will get the best seat at the VMA Awards, this pass can _also_ be used for the after party and will get to meet their favorite music artists there! One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen, Justin Bieber, The Wanted, you name it! As a matter of fact, the winning Academy would also be visited by any of them for one whole day, just for your entertainment!" he said it with full of excitement which causes them to cheer loudly.

"Now _that's_ what I called an opportunity of a lifetime." Foster pondered.

"And now, let's get this final match started!" Paul D ended the speech with a fist pump as he made his way towards the Chancellor's place, where a very comfortable seat was reserved just for him, between Chancellor Sheppard and Chancellor Foster.

"Ladies and gentleman, this is the Singles match scheduled for one fall and it is for the Duel Monsters Championship!" Justin announced with the crowd cheering. A blue neon background with a picture of a black dragon flashed around and Chazz's name was on the Titantron.

**(Kanye West – "Stronger")**

Chazz came out of his entrance on one side of the arena and the North Academy students cheered as he stood there for a while and just scoffed ignoring the people making his way to the platform. "Introducing first… representing North Academy, Chazz Princeton!" The crowd cheered loudly as he made his to the platform.

"And there he is." Jagger said.

"Chazz better win this one." Slade added

"And now, the moment that I've been waiting for… my student with a victory over your Slifer Red, Sheppard!" Foster said with a smirk.

"Don't be so sure just yet, Foster! Jaden here is someone that you should be careful with! Alongside with his Deck of heroes, nothing is impossible for him." Sheppard countered.

"Calm yourself, Chazz. You're the man and this Slifer Slacker is nothing compared with my new Deck. All I need to do now is win, so that I can get this burden that my brothers put on me, off from my back…" he kept telling that himself while his music dimmed down and waiting for Jaden's appearance.

As soon as Chazz's music died down, at the other end of the Arena, the titantron showed a picture of a circle with a hand showing three fingers and the other two making a circle. On the top of the circle were three words and it read: Game on!.

**(Drake – "Started from the Bottom")**

A few seconds into the theme song, the person came out ran out to the arena with the Duel Academy crowd cheering. "And his opponent, representing Duel Academy, Jaden Yuki!" Justin Roberts announced. Jaden waved to the crowd as he made his way to take his place on the platform.

"Come on, Jay! You can win this!" Syrus cheered for his friend.

"Let's see if you can continue the wins where I left off…" Zane said while crossing his arms.

"Knowing Jaden, he isn't going down without a fight." Bastion said.

"And I wonder what would Chazz's brothers' reaction be like if they saw Chazz lose to him again?" Alexis said as Rachel saw Davis head back to them.

"What take you so long?" Rachel asked.

"Sorry, had to use the bathroom." Davis lied.

"Oh, I thought it was something serious…" Rachel shrugged before focusing back onto the stage.

"Well, in any case, this would be the final duel of the day…" Alexis said as all of the attention, are now focused onto the stage. At center stage, both duelists finally met up and both of them shuffled their Decks as Chazz continued to look at Jaden with a dissatisfied look on his face.

"After I beat you and get the gold, I'll deal with that Avenger Reject!" Chazz declared.

"Seems like he's still got anger management…" Alexis said.

"C'mon, Chazz! Show that foo how we do things around our place!" Mikalaas shouted at him. "C'mon, you guys! Let's start chanting out the thunder!" He told his friends as they began to chant "Chazz It Up!" in unison, echoing the whole arena. Meanwhile, Jaden and Chazz continued to shuffle each other's Decks. "Alright Chazz, this is it." Jaden said.

"Yeah, your loss would be my win, for sure!" Chazz mocked.

"The whole world is watching, Chazz…" Slade added.

"You better not screw this up!" Jagger warned.

After giving each other their Decks back, they went to their respective places and slotted their Decks into the deck slot, making their disks go active. With the crowd cheering for their favorite side, both players drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Chazz:** 8000

**Jaden:** 8000

"Get your game on, Chazz!" Jaden said.

"Oh, I got it on alright, and I'm turning yours off!"

"CHAZZ IT UP! CHAZZ IT UP! CHAZZ IT UP! BRING HIM DOWN CHAZZ!" The North Academy students cheered.

"Ask and you shall receive! I'll start!" Chazz drew his sixth card. "Fresh off the presses, Masked Dragon in DEF mode!" A red dragon with a mask on appeared (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1100). "That'll do for now."

"Alright, my move now!" Jaden exclaimed as he draws out his sixth card. "I summon out Elemental Hero Stratos in ATK mode!" Jaden said as he placed the said Monster onto his monster zone and as the portal appears, a mechanical hero in silver and blue armor took flight to the sky before landing onto Jaden's side (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 300). "And Stratos' effect activates, which allows me to get one "Hero" from my Deck to my Hand!" he said as he takes out Elemental Hero Bladedge from the Deck and puts it to his Hand before shuffling. "And after that, I command my monster to attack your Masked Dragon! Take flight, buddy!" As the fan blades of Stratos started to spin, he hovers onto the sky and delivers a flying kick onto the dragon, destroying it along the process.

"Awesome!" Syrus cried, "Jaden's just taken the lead!"

Chazz smirked at the Slifer's words, "Nuh–uh… he's taken the _bait_!"

"Uh oh…" Jaden gulped.

"I activate my Masked Dragon's special ability!" Chazz declared, "When he's destroyed in battle, I can summon a Dragon–Type Monster with 1500 or fewer ATK points from my Deck, and I have just the one! C'mon out, Armed Dragon LV3!" At that point, a small dragon that looked like a Baby Dragon in armor appeared (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 900).

"Well, for safety measures, I set a card face down and end my turn." Jaden added as he set down a card. "Oh boy, I always wanted to go one on one with your LV Monsters! And I still have _lots_ of combos in my Deck, including the one that Kurogasa gave to me!" Jaden said in a happy manner.

Chazz smirked, "Don't worry; you'll have a front row seat. Now it's time to start ending you." Chazz drew his next card. "During my Standby Phase, Armed Dragon's effect activates. By sacrificing his LV3 form, I can summon Armed Dragon LV5 right to the Field!"

"Oh boy…"

"Now then… let's go ahead and get to it shall we?" Chazz watched as his small dragon disappeared into a beam of light, "Armed Dragon LV5, rise!" He cried as a larger version of the dragon appeared (5/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1700).

"Here comes trouble. That alone is enough to spell trouble for him." Zane explained.

Even so, the only thing Jaden can do at this time is just whistles in amazement. "Sweet dragon, Chazz! After seeing it close and personal, man, I feel like I want to take that down head on!"

"If it's Jaden, _any_ kind of duel would surely entertain him…" Alexis said with a slight chuckle.

"You bet! He may not be doing well in class, but in dueling, that's a different story!" Rachel added.

"C'mon, Chazz, I wanna see how that dragon of yours can actually do!" Jaden challenges him with a big grin on his face.

"You wanna see? Then you'll see! I'll activate his effect! By discarding a monster to the Graveyard, I can destroy a Monster of yours if it's ATK points or equal or lower than the Monster I tossed! So I toss another Armed Dragon LV5 to blast your Stratos! Shrapnel Blast!" Everyone watched as the spikes on Armed Dragon's back shot outward like a volley of missiles and rained down upon Stratos destroying him. Chazz cackled, "And that's just his ability! And now I'm gonna go for a direct attack! Armed Dragon LV5, attack Jaden's Life Points directly with Inferno Roar!" Armed Dragon let out a roar as spinning blades that glowed red shot out of its body and slammed into Jaden, knocking him into the air. Jaden landed hard on the platform, wincing as he rolled to a stop.

**Chazz:** 8000

**Jaden:** 5600

Chazz scoffed at Jaden's form, "So that's Duel Academy's best, huh?"

"No!" Sheppard cried out, "Get up, please!"

"Oh no! He's hurt!" Angelina gasped.

Suddenly Jaden flipped over onto his feet, "Nice shot!" he commented, grinning from ear to ear.

"Nope, he's fine." Davis sweat dropped as he chuckled sheepishly.

Chazz stared at the Slifer, "Huh!?"

"Although," Jaden rubbed the back of his head, "For the next TV broadcast, I think I'd rather have a stuntman!" he laughed.

"…whatever. I'll place one card face down and end my turn!"

Slade smiled as he sat alongside Jagger, both of them watching their little brother. "Finally, he's starting to act like a Princeton!"

"True," Jagger snickered, "I just hope he doesn't win too fast!"

"Huh?" Slade turned to him, confused.

Jagger smiled, turning to look at his brother, "The longer he thrashes this kid, the more we make in commercial revenues!" Both brothers turned back to the duel, laughing at their plan.

"Alright! Time to make my move now!" Jaden said as he draws out his next card and pointed his direction at a certain someone. "Davis, this one's for you!" he said, which only makes Davis smiles at his antics. "I play Polymerization! I fuse both Elemental Hero Bladedge and Elemental Hero Knopse, in order to create another version of hero!" he claimed as both of the said monsters leap high to the sky, as the vortex has fused them as one.

"What kind of hero would _that_ create?" Rachel asked.

"Beats me." Syrus shrugged.

"I think I know what kind of Hero he would summon this time, even though it may not make any sense…" Davis pointed out, making the rest of the duelists looking at him.

"Really?" Alexis asked.

"Just watch." Davis said it calmly.

"I Fusion Summon… Vision Hero Adoration!" Jaden shout it out while had his right arm raised high to the sky as a black orb slowly descends to the ground and as the black orb diminishes, a black hero with a dark knight–themed armor appears as the lower part of his trench coat flutters upwards while still crossing his arms. (8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2100)

"Vision Hero?" Syrus wondered.

"Yes, that certainly _is _new." Bastion noted. "And here I thought Jaden only uses Elemental Heroes."

"With his new superpowers, he can destroy your Armed Dragon! Reckless Punch!" Jaden commanded his monster as Adoration makes a mad dash and immediately gives the dragon an uppercut, followed by a quick kick as the monster destroys in pixels; it does a back flip and landed on the ground safely.

**Chazz:** 7600

**Jaden:** 5600

"Did you see that, Davis?! The new Monster that you gave me really rocks!" Jaden said with a thumbs–up at him.

"Told ya they would help!" Davis grinned.

"Thanks for that! It lets me play my Trap!" Chazz declared as he revealed his facedown card, "Call of the Haunted! Tell me, Jaden, do you believe in ghosts? If you don't, then you're about to, because this Trap card allows me to summon any Monster from my Graveyard, and I bet you know which one I'm gonna pick!"

"Oh great…" Chumley muttered.

"Armed Dragon LV5, rise once more!" From the floor, pieces of rubble flew upward as the large dragon came back, letting out another roar.

"CHAZZ IT UP! CHAZZ IT UP! CHAZZ IT UP!" his fans screamed from behind, "SHOW NO MERCY!"

"Just as long as it doesn't really creep me out under my skin, I'm fine with that! I set another card face down and end my turn!" Jaden said as he sets a card onto his duel disk.

"All Jaden has to do now is to not let that Armed Dragon destroy his Monster or he'll be facing a bigger trouble. That level is already troublesome enough…" Bastion said.

"You don't need to worry about Jaden. After seeing the last battle, I know that he'll be aware of that." Zane pointed out.

"Alright, Chazzy! Gimme your best shot!" Jaden challenges Chazz with his usual big grin on his face.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Chazz yelled. "My draw!" He drew his next card. "Get ready for me to mop this low–rent Duel Academy floor with you, Jaden! I could attack your Monster, but to avoid your face down, I'll use Armed Dragon's special ability again. I'll discard Despair from the Dark to the Graveyard and since it had 2800 ATK points, your hero's about to get welded! Now destroy Vision Hero Adoration with Shrapnel Blast!" Once again, the spikes from Armed Dragon's back shot out of its hide and flew towards its target.

"Not so fast! I play the Quick–Play Spell card De–Fusion!" Jaden shouted, "De–fuse!" In an instant, Adoration casts a spell on himself; reverting back into an orb before the two orbs manages to dodge the shrapnel that was heading towards him. "And because of that, I can get back both of my Bladedge _and_ Knopse!" The two said orbs began to take its form as the first figure reveals a golden mechanical bull with a side blade attached onto its left arm as it stood tall and glares at the dragon with its red glowing eyes (7/ATK: 2600/ DEF: 2400). The second figure is somehow smaller than Bladedge… well… actually it could even be smaller than a Hero Kid. A figure–like plant appears with its bud–like hands and head, it was rearing to go, despite its small structure. (3/ATK: 600/DEF: 1000) At this point, it crosses its arms in defense. "Aw, too bad, Chazzy! You missed the target!" Jaden teased him.

"You still forgot its attack! Armed Dragon, take out Bladedge with Inferno Roar!" Chazz ordered.

"Wait a minute; its ATK is lower than my Monster!" Jaden said.

"Not for long!" Chazz said as he played a card onto his Duel Disk. "I play a Quick–Play Spell Card, Rush Recklessly! With this dandy card, my Armed Dragon will gain an additional 700 ATK, which is enough to turn your Monster into a heap of metal!" Chazz explains as the fireball the dragon creates is getting larger than usual.

Armed Dragon LV5 (5/ATK: 2400–3100/DEF: 1700)

"Now, that's more like it… whoops." Jaden realized with a sweat drop, making Davis and Rachel face palm on that comment.

"What's _up_ with him today?" Rachel asked.

"He must be caught up in the heat of the battle for a moment…" Davis explains as Armed Dragon unleashes its huge flame towards Bladedge, causing it to be destroyed in pixels and Jaden took a few portion of the damage.

Chazz: 7600

Jaden: 5100

"He's already activate one set card… what's the other card for?" Rachel added.

"I don't know, but Jaden must have a plan of his own." Davis commented.

"Now, to take this duel to the next level! When Armed Dragon LV5 destroys in battle, I can upgrade my Armed Dragon from level 5 to level 7!" Armed Dragon LV5 glowed and grew bigger and bigger until it changed into its LV7 form (7/ATK: 2800/DEF: 1000).

Jaden looked up at the monster. "Ok… so he's big. But who knows?" he shrugged a little, "He could be friendly…" The Armed dragon let out a loud roar. "On second thought, maybe not."

"I knew it…" Jagger said.

"What?" Slade asked.

"Armed Dragon LV7 isn't in the case I gave Chazz."

"What?! Are you sure?"

"Positive. That LV7 version of the Monster in the case. It's not one of ours." Jagger frowned.

Sheppard glared at Foster, who was chuckling at the progress of the duel. The Duel Academy Chancellor got to his feet again, "C'mon, Jaden! We're all with you! Jaden it up! Jaden it up! Jaden it up!"

Chazz looked back to his crowd of fans, "Show him how it's done, boys!"

"CHAZZ IT UP! CHAZZ IT UP! CHAZZ IT UP!"

The praise from his fans made Chazz laugh. He loved this so much, being respected for once, getting the respect he deserve. He turned back to Jaden, "Aw, what's wrong?" he taunted to the silent Jaden, "You're not so talkative anymore, are ya? You don't have anything to say, Jaden?"

The Slifer looked at him, his Armed Dragon, then back at him, smiling, "Yeah, I do! I gotta get me one of those, he's so cool! Trade for him?"

"No, I won't trade for him!" Chazz snapped, eye twitching, "What's _wrong_ with you?! You're supposed to be _scared_ of him, not _admiring_ him!"

Jaden shrugged, "How _can_ I be scared of him? He's an incredible Monster and this has been an incredible duel! This is so awesome, how can anyone _not_ be any excited?! I'm stoked! This is what dueling's all about, thanks, Chazz!"

"Thanks? You're pitiful Jaden," Chazz shook his head, "Jumping around like a fool, never taking anything serious. That's why you'll never be a champion! You see, it takes discipline to win! You have to have a sense of duty, and a plan! _I_ have a sense of duty, _I_ have a plan, and that's why I'm going to beat you, Jaden! That's why I'll beat anyone in my way! I can conquer anyone, you hear that?! I CAN CONQUER THE WHOLE WORLD!" He screamed.

"Okay, I think he's gone a tad bit insane…" Rachel murmured.

"No, Rachel, he's gone _way_ over the board… and that's _not_ cool!" Hank commented. "Somebody needs to fix the gear in his head…"

"You're the man, Chazz!" Mikalaas shouted.

"Ok, him, first…" Hank pointed to his partner.

"Hey!" Mikalaas hissed back at him.

_'I have to win this. I can't let my brothers down!'_ Chazz turned to the audience to see both Slade and Jagger sitting a few yards away, looking at him intently.

"I'm trying!" He yelled.

"Uh… trying what?" Jaden asked, confused by the sudden change in behavior in his opponent, "Trying to weird me out? Earth to Chazz…" he followed Chazz's line of sight to see the two men in dark suits, "Oh yeah… Chazz's brothers…"

Alexis looked at Jaden, then to Chazz, then to his brothers. "That's right… this whole thing is set up by Chazz's brothers." She remembered.

"Jaden!" Syrus called out. "You gotta turn this duel around, Jay! You gotta show everyone what's up!"

"That's it!" Jaden nodded in understanding. "I gotta win this duel. I gotta show Chazz what dueling's really about! Alright Jaden…" He took a deep breath, "It's time to get your game on!" He looked up at Chazz, a fierce look in his eyes, "LET'S DUEL!"

"What are you talking about, we _are_ dueling!" Chazz yelled at him, "Remember!?" The North Academy crowd was laughing at the Slifer.

"Geez, grab a chill pill, will ya? There's no need to get all worked up. You need to learn how to have fun in duels. That's what dueling's all about! Win or lose, because you'll be having fun all the time!"

Chazz scoffed, "Oh gag me!"

"It's true!" Jaden grinned goofily, "If I can have fun losing, shouldn't you have fun winning? It's not that hard… despite whatever your brothers may have told you."

"What do _you_ know about my brothers!?" Chazz snapped at him.

"For starters, Chazz, I know they're the ones you're dueling for… and I know how much pressure they've put on you to win this duel." Chazz only growled, but that was loud enough for Jaden to hear him. "C'mon, Chazz, remember when you used to duel for fun? The excitement of it?"

"…I only duel to win, slacker…"

"Yeah, well let's see far that gets ya." Jaden said as he drew out his next card. "In the meantime, I summon my Hero's best friend, Wroughtweiler in DEF mode! Heel, boy!" With the slap of the card, a portal opens up, to let a mechanical dog jumps through and getting into threatening position, trying its best to scare off its opponent. (3/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200)

"And with another set card on the Field, I end my turn!" Jaden said as he puts down another card.

"I wonder what set card Jaden put earlier in the game?" Syrus asked himself.

"My move!" Chazz drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Chazz drew two and smirked at one of them. "Now I activate Big Bang Shot and equip it to my Dragon!"

"Oh (bleep)! Now, Chazz can do Piercing Damage along with him getting an extra 400 ATK boost!" Davis cringed.

Armed Dragon LV7 (ATK: 2800–3200/DEF: 1000)

"This doesn't look, if that guy got attack, he'll be taking more Damage… for now, he can rely on those two trap cards he have now…" Alexis commented as Jaden isn't fazed by Chazz's Monster. Instead, he just got more excited as each turn passes by.

"Oh, sweetness! Now, _that's_ what I called an upgrade!" Jaden chirped.

"Let's see how you like it when my Armed Dragon burns that weed of an Elemental Hero to a crisp! Attack with Dragon Talon Terror!"

"Not so fast, I play a trap card, Hero Barrier!" Jaden activates as a fan–like barrier appears and starts to spin rapidly as cracks of lighting can be heard from it, stopping Armed Dragon's advance in its track. "When this card is played, if I control an Elemental Hero, I can negate one of your incoming attacks!" Jaden said as eventually, the dragon backs off and Knopse sticks its tongue to taunt him.

"Saved by the card, yet again…" Hank noted.

"Yeah, the duel was _too_ intense; I think I need my grilled cheese…" Chumley said while rubbing his stomach.

"Too bad, Chazz, this is the only weed that you can't touch for now!" Jaden keep teasing him.

"Grr… fine, I'll end my turn." Chazz growled.

"Alright, it's my go now!" Jaden said as he draws out his next card. "First of all, I activate my Spell Card, Pot of Greed! This lets me draws out two more cards!" Jaden said as he demonstrates it. "Next up, I play another Spell Card, Graceful Charity. With this nifty card, I can draw out three cards, and then discard two to the grave!" Jaden added as after he took out three cards, he ditches Elemental Hero Ocean and Woodsman.

"Will you stop stalling already?! I ain't got all day!" Chazz said angrily.

"Chill out, man! I was about to get that!" he said while looking at the card that he had. "Man, I think you're going to like this! I play Double Summon! In addition to Normal Summon, I can summon one more Monster onto the Field! And so, here comes the burning passionate couple, Elemental Hero Heat and Elemental Hero Lady Heat!" Jaden continues on as he placed the said monster onto the field, as two fiery portals opened up to reveal a hero where he resembles Human Torch, with the only difference is that his whole body doesn't covered in flames and wears a flame motif suit that matches well with his powers (4/ATK: 1600/DEF:1200); as the other figure appears next to him as her long hair is burning at the ends of it, with a costume which might be similar to Burstinatrix but in orange color and a loop of flame that goes around her. (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000).

"Whoa! He's already got four Monsters on the Field right now! That's awesome!" Rachel was impressed.

"And I don't think that he's finished just yet…" Davis commented.

"Hey, Chazz, remember my facedown that I placed in the beginning?"

"Yeah? What's so special about it, slacker?"

"Check this out!" Jaden said in excitement as he pressed the button on his duel disk and reveals a card that would surprise Chazz. "Ta–da! Introducing Miracle Fusion!"

"What?! You aren't finished just yet?" Chazz was annoyed at this point.

"Of course not! When I played this card, I can fuse a Monster, be it from my Hand, on the Field or inside my Graveyard and banish the required materials for its summoning conditions, I can Special Summon it out! And remember those two cards that I ditched out earlier?" Jaden asked which led Chazz to a surprise.

"No! You don't mean…?"

"Oh, I _mean_! I fuse both Elemental Hero Woodsman and Elemental Hero Ocean from the Graveyard!" Jaden said as he lunges his free arm upward, as both Monsters enter a portal and as the fusion was complete, it reveals a large, white hero with purple pads on its shoulders and on his head and a red core right at the middle of its chest, descends down in a hero–like manner. "Ladies and gentlemen! Introducing Elemental Hero Terra Firma!" (8/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000)

Everyone was at a loss for words. "No way! A Legendary Planet Monster?!" Rachel gawked.

"Brother, is that what I think it is?" Jagger asked him.

"That figure, the aura and the confident stance… no doubt about it…" Slade added.

"A Planet monster?! Here?!" Mikalaas was surprised to see it as well.

"But I thought that the previous owner of that card had been in coma and it was said that card was forever lost!" Hank added.

"A Legendary Planet Monster? In this arena?!" Now it was Chancellor Sheppard's turn to be surprised.

"Can somebody tell me what's with the surprised look on everyone's faces?" Pauly D asked.

"Do you know what card is that?" Chancellor Foster asked Pauly D, which he just shakes his head.

"It is said that there are only ten of them in a set on this world and that boy has one of the legendary cards in his hand at this time. The last time we've seen someone with the same card is 5 years ago, by another man named Koyo Hibiki. Unfortunately, something unexpected happened to that man, that led him into a coma and it is said that his cards went missing right after that…" Chancellor Sheppard elaborates the whole thing at Pauly D, which he gets the gist of it.

"Davis, did you know about this matter?" Rachel asked him, being suspicious about that matter. All eyes of his friends are on him at this time.

"Well… to be honest, remember that old looking Slifer guy?" Rachel and Alexis nodded at that.

"Old looking Slifer guy? You mean Gerard?" Syrus asked.

"Is that his name?" Davis asked.

"Now that I think on it, I haven't seen him in a while." Chumley pondered.

"Turns out he was a reporter in disguise trying to digging up dirt on Duel Academy. I stopped him in a duel and he used the Nature Themed Heroes against me. I still won though. He gave the Deck to me saying he didn't need it anymore. I didn't even ask him where he even got the Deck."

"Could he be somehow related to this… Koyo Hibiki?" Bastion tries to remember the details regarding the said character.

"That being said, it seems like everything is going to end soon…" Zane added as Jaden is still clueless about the shocking expression on everyone's face.

"What's with the surprised look, you guys? It's just a Monster and this will end Chazz's Life Points for good! _But_, before I do that, it seems like our little weed is wanted to do a little payback!" Jaden said as he plays his last card on his hand. "I activate my last card, Rose Bud!"

"What?! You haven't finished just yet?!" Chazz's veins begin to pop out as his anger has nearly reaching his limits as he was the first one to recover from the shock.

"Yeah, you know, there's a quote that says, 'every rose has its thorns'. And by sacrificing my Knopse, I can Special Summon Elemental Hero Poison Rose from my Deck!" Jaden said as the Knopse began to grow and as the flower has reached its full bloom, the bud opens up to reveal a woman in a nature theme clothing with white petals that is served as her hair, jumps down from the rose and lands it gracefully. (6/ATK: 1900/DEF: 2000)

"He's done it!" Bastion gasped. "It's over!"

"Damn it! That no good little brother of ours!" Jagger growled.

"He's failed us!" Slade added.

_'And you think you're gonna cut the signal, think again. Keep rolling guys!'_ Davis said in his thoughts.

As it turns out, the camera crew were actually replaced by the Avengers (namely Bart, Ben, Luffy, May and Cassie), with Bart and Ben as the cameramen on the ground, May as the camerawoman on the crane, Luffy as the crane driver and finally Cassie as the camera director. They managed to knock out the real crew before the match started. Well most of them did. Bart on the other hand...

_(Cue Cutaway)_

_We cut to Bartman OOO waiting in the hall near the male bathroom door. The cameraman came out and Bart called out to him. _

_"Psst! Hey buddy. I gotta tell ya something." Bart whispered to him._

_Wondering what is up with him in a curious manner, the cameraman came up before Bart threw a tomahawk at his head, killing him instantly._

_"Ha! You just got Tomahawked! That's what my new show's gonna be called. Tomahawked." Bart proclaimed before he dragged the body to the bathroom in one of the stalls._

_(End Cutaway)_

"Not what Davis meant, but oh well." Bart said while working on the camera. "I'm gonna show y'all the best moment in history!"

"You took those words out of my mouth, Bart!" Ben while working on his camera.

"Oh, sweetness! Now I'm on TV! Hi, Mom!" Jaden said as he does a peace sign with his big grin on his face.

"Luffy! Stop moving the crane! How am I supposed to shoot the battle, if you keep moving this crane around?!" May was annoyed as Luffy kept pressing buttons that made the whole crane shake like crazy!

"Oooooooh! What does this do? What about this? And this? And this" Luffy went on and on as he continues to hit random buttons on it.

"D–Director, what are they doing?! You said that you want to cut the signal when–" one of the workers asked him but Cassie responded, "Oh, just let them be. They know what they're doing and forget what I said about cutting off the signal. Just let the camera roll…"

Despite the confusion, the other workers have no other choice but to sit back and continue doing their thing as Cassie gave Ben a nod with a smile on his face.

"What is going _on_ over there?" Alexis asked the others, which even _they_ didn't know what's going on.

"Oh, you'll see. Jaden! Bring home the gold!" Davis shouted.

"You got it, Davis! And now, after switching Wroughtweiler into ATK position and placing my last card, Skyscraper, it's now onto the Battle Phase! My Terra Firma will crunch down your Armed Dragon LV7!" Jaden commanded as Terra Firma leaps high to the sky, as Chazz would only chuckles about this matter.

"Looks like you need to do a little homework about the difference between our monster's ATK! How in the world would your Monster ever defeat my Armed Dragon LV7?" Chazz mocked him as the dragon spewed flames towards Terra Firma, which he continued to dive towards it, fist first.

"Look closely; whenever my hero faces a Monster, if he has lower ATK than them, he gains an additional 1000 ATK!" Jaden explains as aura began to seep out from Terra Firma, indicating that he is getting stronger.

Elemental Hero Terra Firma (8/ATK: 2500–3500/DEF: 2000)

"What?! This can't be!" Chazz was shocked to see it as slowly, the dragon's attack began to push behind and the distance between two Monsters are getting closer.

"Go for it! Feel the power of nature! Gaia Impact!" Jaden declared as he thrust his right fist forward and Terra Firma immediately went through the dragon, shattering it into pixels.

**Chazz:** 7300

**Jaden:** 5100

"And then, my Wroughtweiler, Lady Heat, Poison Rose and Heat will hit you directly!" Jaden said it as Heat is the first one to leap high to the sky as an aura of flames began to increase in him. "Oh, did I ever mention to you that for every E–Hero on the Field, he gains an additional 200 ATK, including himself?"

Elemental Hero Heat (4/ATK: 1600–2400/DEF: 1200)

Heat delivers a falcon punch towards Chazz.

**Chazz:** 4800

**Jaden:** 5100

Followed up by a roundhouse kick from Lady Heat.

**Chazz:** 3500

**Jaden:** 5100

A strong tackle from Wroughtweiler.

**Chazz:** 2700

**Jaden:** 5100

And finally a heel kick from Poison Rose.

**Chazz:** 800

**Jaden:** 5100

"Hah! Is that all you got? You said that you'll end me in this turn!" Chazz rebelled.

"Of course it is… because at the End Phase, Lady Heat will send you a kiss of heat that will deplete 200 Life Points for every Elemental Hero that I have and since that I have four of them…"

"Jaden won! Yay, Jaden!" Syrus chant as Lady Heat blows a burning kiss towards Chazz, thus ending the duel with a bang.

**Chazz:** 0

**Jaden:** 5100

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Chazz yelled as he fell to his knees.

**(Drake – "Started from the Bottom")**

The crowd cheered wildly at Jaden's victory. "The winner of this match and your Duel Monsters Champion: Jaden Yuki!" Justin announced with the crowd cheering even louder

"No, our little project!" Jagger said in anger.

"Now's not the time! We must get that Legendary Planet!" Slade said in a hurry as both of them heading towards Jaden, pushing Ben aside, who was capturing the moment, and began to bargain on him. Jaden's stopped at that.

"Whoa, whoa, where's the fire, man?" Jaden asked.

"Young man, I was wondering if you willing to trade your Legendary Planet to me? You can name your price, but if that's not good enough, we can trade it with something in this briefcase!" Slade offered as he opens up the briefcase and found out there was a lot of rare cards in it, making it as tempting as possible.

"As tempting as it is, I can't seem to trade it. Besides, I got this from a friend of mine and I would never want to trade that with anything!" Jaden refused the offer while rubbing the back of his head.

Meanwhile Jagger was dealing with Chazz. "You idiot! You've lost! You've disgraced yourself! You've disgraced the Princeton family!"

"Please…" Chazz panted. "Give me another chance…"

"Another chance?!" Jagger roared. "Another chance!?" Jagged repeated, "You know how much we've spent on this duel!? The cameras, the rare cards, none of which you _used_ I might add!"

"I'm sorry…" Chazz kept his head low, "I thought I could win this duel by myself…"

Jagger growled, reached down, grabbed his coat collar and lifted him clear off the ground, "Yourself!? YOURSELF?! WHEN COULD YOU DO _ANYTHING_ BY YOURSELF?!" Jagger then raised his fist and punched Chazz in the face sending him flying a few feet and flying to the ground stunning the people present.

"Chazz!" Jaden cried out trying to go to him, but was blocked by Slade.

"Give us that Legendary Planet Monster!" Slade insisted.

Jagger started walking over to Chazz. "GET UP! GET UP YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A BROTHER!" He yelled.

"That's right, keep fighting, you guys! You have no idea this camera is still on…" Bart chuckled silently as he continued to record them while zooming at the expressions of the Princeton brothers.

"Looks like Bart and Ben are doing well on their jobs…" Cassie said with a sweat drop as Luffy kept pressing the button on the control panel of the crane, just to make May more dizzy than ever. "…I should've told Davis to choose someone other than Luffy…"

Jagger then proceeded to get Chazz up while Davis and friends started going to the stage.

"Hey! That's enough!" Davis shouted.

"He's hurting already! Why can't you guys just let it be?!" Rachel shouted as Hank and Mikalaas came down to help and start backing up for Chazz.

"You ok, man?" Hank kneels down to check on Chazz's condition and lending his shoulder to help Chazz to stand up before turning to Jagger and Slade. "He may be a douche at times, but that doesn't mean you guys can treat him like a trash! He duels it in his own way and because of you guys kept pressuring him that much, it's no wonder that he can't focus properly!"

"You mess with us; you mess with the whole student body, suckas!" Mikallaas warned the Princeton brothers as he began to crack his knuckles.

"We should try to stop them!" Chancellor Foster was in a panic, until Chancellor Sheppard stops him.

"Don't worry about them. They knew what they're doing…" Sheppard reminded him.

"Oh? This is just Italy, only better…" Pauly D added.

"So what? The people doesn't know about this matter anyways… besides, we control this show anyways and guess what? The duel got cut off at the last minute!" Jagger threatens them, which only makes Davis smirked.

"What's so funny?" Slade asked him.

"About that..." Davis said happily.

Slade and the brothers were looked confused until they saw Bart and Ben still rolling the footage with the camera. "W–What?! I thought I told them to cut it off if things are not going to plan!" Jagger was surprised to see them.

"Smile for the camera, you sons of bitches!" Bart taunted as Slade walk towards the direction where Cassie were, scaring the whole crew as Cassie remained calm.

"I thought I told you to follow EXACTLY what we planned for!"

"I know, sir. But it's something that is not to be missed, so I want to ask you something, Mr. Princeton…" Cassie paused for a moment and fixed her glasses' position. "Can you please...go on?"

"Argh, why does this thing happening to us?!" Jagger shouted in anger.

"You guys… why did you help me out?" Chazz began to ask.

"Are you kidding me? You're our friends, despite being a douche all the time…" Hank replied back to him.

"And we can't just sit back and watch you get hurt by those so–called brothers of yours." Mikalaas added.

"Now the whole world knows that you two are a bunch of ungrateful bastards." Davis grinned. At that point Slade went back to his brother and looked at Jaden.

"You… this is all your fault!" Jagger shouted pointing at Jaden. "Thanks to you, all our plans are ruined!"

"And if you won't give up that Legendary Planet Monster, then we'll take it by force!" Slade added. The two brothers proceeded to get to Jaden until–

_IF YA SMEEEEEEEEEEELL! WHAT THE ROCK! IS COOKIN'!_

**(Jim Johnston – "Electrifying")**

The song surprised everyone and at first, they thought that it was just a prank, but instead, all hell broke loose when The Brahma Bull, The Great One, The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment, The People's Champion, The Rock walked towards the dueling arena, with his bald head and wearing a sleeveless white shirt with the front that read "Just Bring It!" and the back shows his insignia of a bull, raising its eyebrow, his sports pants, his white sneakers and who could ever forget his signature trademark of those black sunglasses over his eyes.

"Whoa! First we have Pauly D coming in, and then, the ROCK arrives?!" Syrus was surprised to see him in person.

"Oh man, I don't think I can keep up with these surprises…" Alexis said while scratching her head in confusion.

"Oh my gosh! It's The Rock!" Rachel said as she was ecstatic to see him live.

"Seems like he must have gotten the memo…" Pauly D chuckled as the Rock's music comes to a stop.

Before The Rock could even start talking, the continuous chant of "Rocky!" was heard automatically, which he pauses and just listens to it. He then takes the mic from Justin and brought it up to his mouth. "Even though this is The Rock's first time here in Duel Academy, The Rock will still say his catchphrases. FINALLY! THE ROCK! HAS COME BACK! TO DUEL ACADEMY!" The crowd cheered wildly at that.

"Heh...classic…" Davis said it with a grin on his face.

"Even after years of not wrestling and always focused on the movie a lot, he still got it… the charisma that cannot be attained by others…" Hank pointed out.

"Sweetness, this is the best Duel–Off ever!" Jaden shouted happily as the Princeton brothers are still overwhelmed by the presence of the Great One.

"You see The Rock had just arrived in a private jet to see this, watching all the action going on, the kids participating in this Duel–Off kicking all kinds of candy ass all over the place, which was great, until…" He then pointed at the elder Princeton brothers. "…you two Jabronis happened."

"Jabronis?!" Slade was shocked by the claim and began to feel annoyed about it.

"Do you have any idea who are you _talking_ to?!" Jagger retaliates.

"Do these guys have any idea who _they're_ talking to? They don't call him being a smart mouth for a reason…" Davis commented.

"Just shut up and let's just listen to what they have to say to those 'Jabronis'…" Chazz added as he managed to stand on his own this time.

"Seems like these two have picked their poison for today…" Rachel added.

"You think The Rock gives a monkey's nut sack on who Jabroni #1 and #2 are?" Rock asked as Slade and Jagger were clearly offended by this.

"Yeah, that's–"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!" Rock interrupted making the crowd cheer.

"Hah, you reap what you sow, bros…" Chazz chuckles after hearing the joke made by the Rock.

"Why you–" Slade was truly annoyed, Jagger has to stop his brother from advancing towards the Great One.

"Calm down, brother! The camera is still live. He's just trying to get his words onto our head! It's all about mind game!" Jagger told his brother, which he manages to cool down for a bit.

"Heh, I think I like this guy already!" Bart said as he zoomed the camera onto The Rock.

"You're looking for trouble now, Rock!" Slade said as he took off his jacket.

"No, _you_ two Jabronis are the one looking for trouble. Cuz you see The Rock and the millions…!"

"AND MILLIONS!" The crowd chanted.

"…of The Rock's fans, The People, saw how you were treating your little brother. He was doing this all for you until you popcorn farts starting beating him down."

"Hehehehe...popcorn farts." Bart laughed at this.

"And he deserves it!" Jagger snapped. "He's nobody now! Disowned by us _and_ the whole world!" He waved to the crews circling the area, "The camera's got everything on tape! He was schooled. He got mopped up!"

Slade growled. "And worse he got beaten down like a dog! He lost!"

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! That's where you're wrong!" Rock continued. "You see Chazz already won… against you two Jabronis! He played by _his_ own terms, played with _his_ own cards! That's what matters!" The Princeton Brothers tried to retaliate only to be overwhelmed by the "Rocky!" chants once again.

"Do you really think you could get away with this, Rock?" Slade hissed at him, only to be paused by the hand of the Great One at his face before picking up where he left off…

"Considering The Rock ain't done speakin' yet, you two Jabronis should Know Your Role and Shut Your Damn Mouth!" the Rock mocking him again, embarrassing them right in front of the camera.

"Oh man, there's _nothing_ that can stop him now…" Syrus admired The Rock.

"Now here's what I want you two to do, you go back to the mainland and get some tattoos on your asses. On your left butt cheek, put some M&M's on there. Then you can put in a Hershey's bar, a Milky Way, a Twix. You can't have Almond Joy because unlike you two Jabronis, Almond Joy is actually half nuts." The crowd laughed at that as the Elder Princeton Brothers were infuriated. "And then on your right butt cheek, I want you to put a tattoo of The Rock's size 15 shoe, to serve as a constant reminder of how The Brahma Bull, The Great One, The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment, The People's Champion, The Rock, kicked both of your candy asses!" Before anyone knew what happened next, ROCK DROPPED THE MIC, GRABBED SLADE AND DID A ROCK BOTTOM! The impact of the Rock Bottom was enough to make Slade out cold, causing Jagger to be in shock before he recovers from it and checking on the condition of his unconscious brother making the crowd cheer.

"Oh yeah! You got p'owned, bitch!" Bart said as he caught it all at the camera. Seeing that the work is done, they all left their posts and switched to their original costumes.

_"Mission accomplished, Davis."_ Cassie told him before the Avengers returned back to the Deck.

_"Ugh, I don't feel so good…"_ May said while holding her head before returning back to Davis' Deck. As for the camera crew they replaced, except for the one cameraman Bart killed? Let's just say they couldn't remember what happened.

At that point, Jagger tried to get a whack at The Rock, but he missed and Rock lifted Jagger up and delivered a spine buster. He then walked around his body until his feet was between Jagger's head. The crowd was cheering for they and Davis knew what was gonna happen next. "Hey guys! Form a square and hold hands tightly! Quick!" Davis said. Without hesitation, all of them formed the square ring and The Rock's feet were between Jagger's head. Cheers started to pour down as he began to stomp his way, telling them that something is coming. At first, he tried to take off the elbow pad, but noticed that he isn't in his ring costume, he gives away the next best thing, taking off his shirt and throws it away to the crowds, revealing his 6–pack and tattoos that were engraved on his chest. With a couple of swings from his arms, he starts running to the right side, where Hank and Mikalaas are holding on and pushes him forward, gaining more momentum and continues to run towards Alexis and Rachel's side. With one quick push, The Rock skids right in front of Jagger's head, before delivering The Most Electrifying Move in All of Entertainment, The People's Elbow, right at his forehead.

"That's gonna be a knockout…" Chazz said with a smirk on his face.

"No doubt about that…" Bastion added.

After that, everyone let go as the Rock looked down at the two brothers before picking up the mic and said,

"IF YA SMEEEEEEEELALALALALALALALALA L! WHAT THE ROCK! IS! COOKIN'!"

Accompanied by his music video, most of the students' just looked at him walk away like a boss, but not before he stopped halfway, turned around, and raised his eyebrow one more time before walking away.

"Man, this is one moment I will never forget!" Jaden said as the excitement gets the best of him, until Pauly D's presence seems to get his attention.

"Ahem, if you kids kindly go back up, we can continue it on with the ceremony of giving the title to this boy?" Pauly D said while his assistant still holding the belt on the tray as most of them going back up and some of the medic teams put both of the Princeton brothers onto a stretcher beds before being taken away. "As I was saying, first of all, I would like to congratulate to our winners of the School Duels for this year, Jaden Yuki, Davis Eitoku, and Rachel Figueroa." Pauly D said as his assistant handed them the Heavyweight titles before he placed the said belts onto each of their shoulder.

"Aw man, this is sweet!" Jaden exclaimed before Pauly D handed them envelopes that contains the V.I.P. access for the VMA Awards, which leaves Jaden confused for a bit.

"What's wrong, kid?" Pauly D asked.

"Well, as much as I like to receive this extra reward, I don't think that I deserve this… well, except for the belt, of course, because it's really sweet around my waist!" Jaden said as he made his way and handed the confused Chazz the envelope. "Here, Chazz, you can have it. I may dig music, but I'm really passionate for dueling and aimed to be the next King of Games!" Jaden said with his big grin of his, which somehow annoyed Chazz for no reason.

"I don't need your pity! Ugh, you're annoying me sometimes, you slacker!" Chazz said it before he took the envelope anyways and walks out from the arena. Somehow, a slight smile appears on his face as he walks away. In the meantime, Jaden raises his belt high and the students cheered for him, regardless of which academy was cheering.

"And as an added bonus, since that Duel Academy has won _both_ of the divisions, your school will be visited _twice_ this year! We'll inform the dates of when they'll make their appearance and all you kids need to do is just sit back and enjoy the show!" Pauly D gave the last speech before he ended it and walks out from the arena.

"Man, I can't wait to see them come here!' Rachel was getting excited over this.

"We might as well start preparing some stuff…" Alexis proposed.

"Seems like we've manage to make everyone happy, Davis." Rachel said while looking at their friends discussing the topic of the day.

"Yeah, we sure did…" Davis smiled.

* * *

Later that day, as the sun began to set, Chazz stood on a small cliff, watching his brother's helicopters fly off into the distance. He was no longer a Princeton in his brother's eyes. Now he's just a duelist with no family. 'Only one last matter I have to settle…' He thought as he headed back towards the docks where everyone was waiting for him.

Jaden smiled as Chazz joined them, "Guess this is goodbye, huh, Chazz? Don't forget to write," he nudged him on the shoulder.

Chazz looked at his feet, "I'm not going back, Jaden."

"Huh?" The North Academy students said as Chazz look over his shoulder to his North Academy comrades, "Look guys. I'm sorry, but I don't belong with you,"

"So then… where _do_ you belong?" Hank asked.

Chazz turned to the Duel Academy students, "Right here. Duel Academy was _always_ my home,"

"You sure about this?" Mikalaas asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he looked over his shoulder to the Chancellor, "If Chancellor Sheppard will have me back, that is,"

Sheppard smiled warmly, "Well, you _were_ one of our best duelists… how could I possibly refuse?"

"May I have your attention please?" Everyone turned to Crowler who was on make shift stage. "It's now time to present the prize of this year's match between North and Duel Acdemies… Miss Duel Academy!" At those words, almost every male student rushed the stage excluding Davis, and some other male students not really excited about it.

"Miss Duel Academy? Sounds hot!" Jaden grinned.

"Jay, be my wingman ok?" Syrus nudged.

"And here she is!" Crowler announced. At that point, Miss Duel Academy showed up and to most of the male horrors, it was Miss Dorothy wearing a dress and make up.

"Dorothy's Miss Duel Academy?!" Jaden gaped. To make things even more disappointing, it turns out the big prize Foster and Sheppard kept talking about was a simple kiss from her. Foster began to sob and dashed to his submarine as Dorothy kissed Sheppard on the cheek.

Chazz raised an eyebrow, "That's a chick?"

* * *

After all the craziness, everyone was saying their goodbyes.

"It's been good seeing you Mom." Rachel said hugging her.

"It's good seeing you too." Angelina said. "And it's good to know how things are here. I'll be sure to give you the full video of the whole event soon once I get back to the mainland." She then turned to Davis. "Take good care of my daughter Davis. You might be the one she finally won't get rid of." She winked making the two teens blush.

"Mom…" Rachel hissed.

"Oh relax dear," She said to her daughter. "But seriously Davis, do look after her."

"Um… yeah, I will…" Davis managed to get out. And with that Rachel boarded the cruise ship headed for the mainland.

"Good to have family huh…" Davis said.

"Yeah…" Rachel smiled.

* * *

With that, Davis and Rachel made up with Jaden, Hank, and their friends. "Well guys, it's been real." Hank said.

"Yeah, we had a lot of fun today." Rachel smiled.

"But next year will be different." Hank smirked. "We'll be stronger and ready to win it all."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Davis said. After some handshakes and goodbyes, Hank left but Mikalaas didn't. "Shouldn't you be going Mikalaas?"

"Actually...the Jones' staying here!"

"What?" Everyone asked.

"That's right suckas! I talked to Chancellor Foster and Sheppard about staying here and they have no problem with it." Mikalaas said.

"Really? That's great!" Rachel said.

"Yeah, sure is." Davis grinned. "Well then, let me be the first to say Welcome to Duel Academy."

* * *

After a rather tearful goodbye and chants of "Chazz It Up" from North Academy students, the ships and the submarine drifted away. Sheppard looked at the returning student.

"Chazz, about you coming back, there's something that we have to talk about."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Banner?" Professor Banner weaved his way to Chazz through the other students, "Since you dropped out of Duel Academy and are returning you are technically a new student. For that, you must start from the bottom at Slifer Red."

Chazz looked both shocked and horrified, "What?! Slifer!?"

Banner nodded, "Yes, welcome! We'll get you fitted for a blazer when we return to the dorm, then we'll get you settled in your room…"

"Fine! The Chazz bunks alone, anyways! Got that!?"

"Really? Then how do you feel about cockroaches?" Syrus asked him.

"Cockroaches?!"

Jaden grinned, "There's only a few of them. Besides, it's mainly the rats ya gotta worry about."

"Rats?!" Chazz turned back to the sea, "I change my mind! Take me back! I wanna go back!"

Laughing, Jaden turned to the others, "Guys, how about we give Chazz the Slifer Cheer?"

"I don't want it!" Chazz snapped turning and glaring at them all.

"S–L–I–F–E–"

"Can't we just stick with 'Chazz It Up'!?" Chazz begged.

"OR SLIFER IT UP!" Everyone yelled before closing in on Chazz for a huge group hug. Chazz groaned and sank to the ground, tugging at his hair, "My new family's already dysfunctional!"

"Well this should make things better!" Davis said as a catchy tune from an old classical movie started to play, as Davis was about to end this chapter in the most painful way possible.

_**Davis: **Now a woman who'll kiss on a very first date, Is usually a hussy, And a woman who'll kiss on the second time out, Is anything but fussy, But a woman who'll wait 'till the third time around, Head in the clouds, feet on the ground, She's the girl you're glad you've found, She's your Shipoopi. __Shipoopi, Shipoopi, Shipoopi, _

_**Chorus: **The girl who's hard to get. _

_**Davis: **Shipoopi, Shipoopi, Shipoopi, _

_**Chorus: **But you can win her yet._

_**Davis: **Walk her once just to raise the curtain, Walk around twice and you make for certain. Once more in the flower garden, She will never get sore if you beg her pardon._

_**Chorus: **Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, do, si, la, so, fa, mi, re, do._

_**Davis: **Squeeze her once when she isn't lookin'. Get a squeeze back that's fancy cookin'. Once more for a pepper-upper, She will never get sore on her way to supper,_

_**Chorus: **Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, do, si, do,_

_**Davis: **Now little ol' sal was a No-gal, As anyone could see, Look at her now, She's a Go-Gal, Who only goes for me,_

_Squeeze her once when she isn't lookin' Get a squeeze back that's fancy cookin' Once more for a pepper-upper, She will never get sore on her way to supper,_

_**Chorus: **Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, do, si, do,_

_**Davis: **Shipoopi, shipoopi, shipoopi, _

_**Chorus: **The girl who's hard to get, _

_**Davis: **Shipoopi, shipoopi, shipoopi, _

_**Chorus: **But you can win her yet._

Every student and teacher, except Chazz, summoned their monsters and broke out into a meaningless dance number that involved students/monsters/teachers making out with each other, people dancing retardedly, and even many people getting drunk and crashing into things and hurting themselves.

_**Chorus: **Shipoopi, Shipoopi, Shipoopi, The girl who's hard to get. Shipoopi, shipoopi, shipoopi, But you can win her yet. __You can win her yet!_

_Shipoopi!_


	15. Chapter 15: Keepers of the Grave

"Ugh… that's the last time I mix chili sauce with ice cream…"

Syrus climbed down the ladder of his bunk bed late one night, his stomach giving him the worst stomach ache of his life. _Now_ he knows that it's never a good idea to mix ice cream with chili sauce. Whatever gave him that idea anyway? I mean would you mix up banana with ketchup? Or mac and cheese with mayonnaise? No, it's just utterly silly and ridiculous (well, maybe not the last one with the mac and cheese). He walked out of his dorm room and headed down the stairs, walking towards a random door, thinking it was the bathroom. He turned the doorknob and pulled it open. The room had a bed, a large desk and glowing light from inside.

Blinking, Syrus rubbed his head, "Oh man, this isn't the bathroom." He was about to close the door when he heard a strange sound coming from the desk. He rubbed his eyes some more and saw that Banner was sitting in front of a computer monitor, his back to the open door.

**"You are not here to ask why, you are here to obey."**

Banner shifted in his seat, "But Jaden is one of our best students, and he could be buried alive!" He protested to the strange voice.

Syrus stood there, "Buried?" he whispered.

**"If the tomb shall be the end of Jaden Yuki, then so be it. His true potential **_**must**_** be tested! As well as the other who share a similar spirit…"**

Syrus quickly and quietly closed the door, and then backed away, scared of what he just heard, and all before the identity of the other two. _'Tested? In a tomb? Where he could be buried alive?! Something tells me this test isn't a final exam…'_ he thought before quietly running up the stairs to his bed, no longer needing to go to the bathroom. But also he had a cringing feeling of who the other might be… _'I hope the other is not either me or Chumley…'_

* * *

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

** omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

* * *

Chapter 15: Keepers of the Grave

It's been a few weeks since the School Duels took place. Davis and Rachel won the Tag Team titles and Jaden has won the World Heavyweight Championship. Of course, it's dueling theme but WWE styled with a dash of VMA as well, plus Mikalaas Jones gets to stay around for the rest of the semester, so that's pretty much it. Technically, since Mikalaas was technically a new student, he had to start off as a Slifer Red like Chazz, but during the time he's being doing well and soon he got promoted to Ra Yellow. It was late at night as we now turn our attention towards Mikalaas who was now being led by Bastion so the former can settle in his new room in Ra Yellow.

"Congratulations on your promotion Mikalaas." Bastion praised.

"Thanks, Bastion." Mikalaas said. "It's been cool in Slifer Red but I'm sure I'll have fun here in Ra Yellow too."

"Yes, and I assure you that the accommodations here in Ra Yellow are better. No offense to the Slifer Reds."

"Hey, as long as there's a comfy bed, some good food, and good company, I can't complain." Mikalaas shrugged.

"Anyway, here is your room…"

"I can't wait…"

* * *

At the Obelisk Blue Boys' Dorm…

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Who is it?" Davis asked.

"A package for you Mr. Eitoku." A staff member answered from outside the door.

"A package?" Davis asked himself before Shannon appeared next to him.

_"What did you order?"_ Shannon asked while crossing her arms.

"I didn't order _anything_." Davis said scratching his head in confusion.

Cassie, Ben and May appeared next to him as they also felt suspicious about the package. _"If you didn't order _anything_, how come the package came to _you_? Come to think of it, you're the only child since your mom went missing."_ Cassie deducted.

_"And knowing you don't have many friends since childhood, other than the ones you already know, this is just plain weird… a fan of yours?"_ May asked.

_"Instead of thinking about it, why don't we just take it and take a good look at it? It's the rational thing to do, after all…"_ Ben decided.

"Right, let's." Davis said. He went to the door and opened it, seeing a staff member carrying a big box with an envelope on top of it. After signing it off, Davis took the package and brought it inside. Davis took the envelope. "This one's...that's weird, there's no name." Davis said opening up the envelope to find a letter. "Dear Davis, I'm so proud of you. After watching you in the School Duel on some television, I decided to send you some new friends, seeing that to get stronger that you'll need some extra help. Mother. New friends?" He then opened up the package and there was a huge flash!

"Whoa!" Davis yelled as he fell back on his butt. The Avengers shielded their eyes as well. When the flash died down, five individuals appeared out of nowhere. One is a redhead girl in a red shirt paired with a black vest, gray pants, and black flats while her hair still is slicked back in a ponytail. Another is a guy in a black T-shirt, with the sleeves and collar being cut in bumpy ways, the sleeves on his long sleeved gray shirt are slightly torn and he is also wearing blue straps with pouches. His hair is long and straight. His jeans have a small tear below the left knee. He also wears a padlock necklace marked with an "11". The last three are a bit inhumane. The first is some kind of feline with lavender-colored fur, black and white markings on his face, and pointed ears. He carries an odd weapon on his shoulder and wears a somewhat blue-colored high tech armor. The second was some sort of gold warrior. As for the last individual, he is actually some sort of a green elephant...thing. Aside from the latter two, one of the Avengers recognized the other three.

_"Gwen? Kevin? Rook? I can't believe you're here!"_ Ben said as he came up to greet them.

_"Long time no see, cuz."_ Gwen said.

_"I agree with Gwen. It has been a long time."_ Rook agreed. "_It took us a couple of days spending time in a box to meet up with you and the Avengers."_

_"And it looks like we made it safe." _The black-haired guy said as he looked around and then turned to Davis._ "So you must be Michelle's kid? Name's Kevin Levin. Catboy here is Rook Blonko, Ben's partner before Ben joined the Avengers and next to me is my girlfriend, Gwen Tennyson. As for the other two; the gold guy's Zubaan and that...thing is Fred Fredburger."_

_"Zu zu baan! (Nice to meet you!)" _Zubaan said.

_"Yes!" _Fred Fredburger shouted in excitement._ "Hey do you wanna hear me spell my name? F, R, E, D..."_

_"Oh no. Not again." _Gwen groaned.

_"He's been doing that and asking random crap on our way here!" _Kevin complained.

_"I may suggest you would have to ignore it now, Kevin. Because we need to talk to Master Davis about something important." _Rook said.

_"Important?" _Davis wondered.

_"...G, E, R! Fred Fredburger! Yes!"_

* * *

The next day…

"So you see, children, we can learn a great deal from Alchemy that applies to dueling," Banner went on, standing by his desk with two different vials with multi–colored liquid in his hands. Pharaoh lay comfortably in his master's chair. For today's lecture, Banner is teaching about Fusion Monsters and how they are like Alchemy. As the lecture went on though, Davis was seated next to Rachel and the latter noticed that Davis looked… unusually, a bit happy.

"Hey Davis, you okay?" Rachel whispered. "You seem… rather happy today."

"Huh?" Davis said snapping out of it and looking at Rachel. "Oh, um, I'm fine. Let's just say I got some new cards and I got some news that my mom's ok." He said before turning back to the Professor's lecture. Rachel smiled a little at the answer he'd given her.

Banner held up the vials, "Just as we can fuse two Monsters to create a more powerful Monster, we can mix two compounds and make something equally impressive," he poured one of the liquids into the large vial and shook it gently, "You see, it's rather very–"

*POOF!*

The vials exploded, sending a large cloud of smoke into the air. Banner waved his hand, coughing as he made the fanned the smoke away and his face was now smudged from the smoke, "On the other hand… it can be equally devastating…" He coughed before falling on his butt. The class tried to hold in their laughs.

At that point, the bell rung, signaling that it was the end of class for the day. The ringing also woke up Jaden from his sleep. The Slifer Hero user yawned and stretched, "Morning guys… what I miss?" he looked ahead at Banner, who was picking himself up, "Learn anything good today?"

"We learned how to duck," Syrus said quietly.

"Not to mention surviving explosions made by Alchemy." Rachel giggled.

Banner brushed himself off as he rose to his feet, "Oh, I almost forgot! I'm… uh… planning a little field trip," he held up a pile of papers, most likely schedules.

"A field trip?" Davis asked.

"Yeah! Where to? Carnival? Circus?" Jaden asked, excited.

"Why a carnival or circus?" Davis asked. "I mean we're already having music artists visit Duel Academy on Duel Monsters Spirit Day and Graduation."

"Yeah, that's true." Jaden agreed.

Banner smiled, "Yes, it will be eventful on those days, no doubt, but the field trip I have in mind is that we're going to take a ten mile hike all the way to the excavated ruins that are on the island, where we will be taking geologic core samples!"

"Ruins huh…" Rachel said intrigued.

"Sounds like fun." Davis grinned.

"It's this Saturday at 7:00 AM, so don't be late!"

* * *

And so, Banner's class arrived in the meeting spot outside the Academy, ready for the field trip. However, it wasn't the results Banner had really wanted. First off, there weren't many people, and they're the ones who came to class. Including Banner, they all had a backpack with them, filled with food and supplies and a cooler full of drinks. Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Davis and Rachel were the only ones who came.

Banner frowned, "Only five of you? Is that all? Where is everyone else?"

"Its 7:00 in the morning and a Saturday, Professor. Most likely they're in their dorms, in their nice, warm beds enjoying the soft pillows and blankets." Rachel said.

"Like _I'd_ be doing if Banner didn't threaten us with detention…" Chumley muttered.

"Well, you _do_ need to get out more, Chumley." Jaden said, patting him on the back.

"Hey, I'm all for it. Besides, after all the excitement at the School Duels, going to these ruins could actually be relaxing." Davis said.

Banner continued to address the students, "Now, before we advance anymore, I must warn you children. When we enter the ruin site, you must be careful. Inside the area, is an ancient tomb; Now, usually…"

Syrus paled the word, tomb. _'A tomb!?'_ He then pulled Jaden to the side, earning a look of confusion from the E–Hero duelist. "Listen Jaden," He whispered. "I think Banner wants to bury us and Chumley. Last night, he was talking about the tomb and you in it. And he said 'two others'. That could mean Chumley and me since we're all in the same dorm.

"Why not Chazz?" Jaden asked.

"Because he doesn't exactly room with you."

"Sy, this must be another chili sauce nightmare." Jaden waved off. "You're worrying too much."

"All right class; let's move onward to the ruins." Banner said, as everyone got going.

_'Don't say I didn't warn you…'_ Syrus worriedly thought as he walked after the rest of the party.

* * *

The group made their hike, but it wasn't exactly fun for the group as a whole. Of course, Chumley likely made the most complaints about the rough hiking since he was the most out of shape of the group. Jaden was the close second since he was likely bored without any amount of dueling going on even if the promise of visiting ancient ruins was in the air.

"Are we there yet?" Chumley asked.

"No…" The group deadpanned.

"How about now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No!"

"How about–"

"NO!"

"Chumley, I swear if you ask again I will punt your big koala ass back to school from here!" Rachel snapped.

"And trust me, you don't want that to happen." Davis said.

"Finally, we're here!" Banner laughed triumphantly, the others looked directly in front of them, was what looked like a broken archway that was mostly covered in green moss.

"I knew it would look sort of like this," Davis commented. "But I'm still kind of let down."

"Marvelous! You can still see the fated remains of the oculus, oh and the phastigium! No doubt inspired by a meniment of Saka'Ra." Banner said in excitement

"Well, at least we got here." Syrus said.

"Well I'm just happy I get to sit down," Chumley groaned, rubbing his legs, "I hate hiking…"

"And you've been complaining about it this whole ten–mile hike!" Rachel snapped making Chumley cower.

"Speaking of sitting down, how about we _chow_ down?" Jaden suggested.

Banner nodded, "I don't see why not. Afterwards, we can check out the rest of the ruins. Maybe there's some well–preserved sarcophaguses around… or is it sarcophagi?" he dropped his bag and looked through it, "Oh well, time to eat for now. I love pizza, I can barely wait," Jaden and the others turned around on their lunch blanket, staring at their professor.

"Pizza?! You get pizza while we're stuck with whatever it is I'm holding?" Jaden whined, holding up some sort of rice balls.

Banner inched himself away from them, holding his sack close, "I'm your teacher, I need pizza for strength so I can teach you properly!" he said defensively.

"Not to worry Jaden, Rachel and I came prepared. " Davis said as he and Rachel pulled out from their bags, practically an all-you-can-eat buffet in front of them.

"I hear angels singing," Chumley sighed happily as he gazed at the food. Banner opened his own backpack, but rather than the collected pizzas he had been hoping to find, all he found was the happy face of Pharaoh purring happily with a full tummy.

"Pharaoh! You were supposed to stay at home, not hitch a ride in my bag and eat my lunch!" he cried. Banner hung his head in dismay, then slowly turned to his students, looking very humble, "Maybe… you could share you lunch with me, children?" he asked, hands together. Everyone looked at him, mimicking his squinted eyes look.

"Sorry," Jaden replied, "But we're your students and we need this to learn!" Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, besides you weren't gonna share, Professor," Chumley pointed out.

"But of _course_, I was going to share!"

"Mm–hmm… somehow I doubt that." Davis deadpanned. At this point, Reptil appears and he looked at Banner, the latter bit hungry.

"Humberto, why are you here?" Davis was surprised to see him.

_"Why didn't you share the food with the guy who has been giving you lessons?"_ he asked.

"Because he was teasing us for a bit." Davis said.

_"Now that isn't sweet, isn't it?"_ at this time, Shannon appears while looking at them. _"You kids should learn to share your meals with others. It's not like this is one of those Survival of the Fittest or anything…"_ she added.

"Say, Davis, what are your friends saying?" Jaden asked.

"I guess they told us to share our meals with Prof. Banner. Besides, he did teach us about something new every day, and not to mention this this hiking stuff to learn about ancient ruins would definitely add up for our scores when the next exam comes, right, Professor Banner?

Banner, who sees this opportunity, immediately agrees with him. "Yes, children. What you say is true. So, is it okay for you to share lunch with me?"

"Huh… fine." The kids sighed. While that was happening, Pharaoh walked around the area, the fat cat looking around, noticed something sticking out of the dirt. He walked over and dug, shoveling dirt behind him as the object became clearer. It was a large, round disk with symbols carved into it. In the exact middle of the disk, a green gem lay. Pharaoh mewed and prodded the disk. At the touch of the cat's paw, the green gem began to glow a bright light. Pharaoh shrieked and ran back to his master, while beams of bright green light shot into the sky from the earth.

"What's going on?!" Jaden watched as more and more beams erupted from the dirt. Everyone else rose to their feet and stood back to back, while Pharaoh leapt into Banner's arms, shaking like a leaf.

_"Davis, my spider-sense is tingling! I got a bad feeling about it…"_ May said to him as she appeared.

"Does anyone seeing three suns up there or is it just me seeing things?" Banner asked them.

Chumley's jaw dropped as a veil of different colored lights appeared, moving around them in a circular pattern, "Man… this is like the most lishus field trip ever,"

A hooting made Jaden look away from the light to see Winged Kuriboh on his shoulder. "What's that?" he asked, earning another hoot, "We should run?" The question was answered when thunder boomed above them and lightning flashed, making everyone jump out of their skins. "Everyone, run for cover!" Banner shouted. Everyone started to run, trying to find shelter. The lightning and thunder came quicker and quicker each time, making them more frightened. Banner looked ahead towards a tall building, "We'll find safety in that–" His last word was drowned out by more thunder.

"The what!?" The kids shouted.

Banner pointed to the thing ahead of them, "The building with the hole!" he yelled.

Davis kept running until he skidded to a stop and saw that Jaden had stopped running. "Dude, we gotta bail!" Davis urged, tugging at Jaden's sleeve.

Jaden looked at him then behind to see the others huddled into a hole, hoping the shelter will protect them from the hole. "Guys, stay in there, I'll lead the storm away!" And with that, Jaden took off.

"Wait, Jaden! Get back here!" Davis shouted as he went to get Jaden back. As Jaden ran off in the opposite direction, the light from above became brighter and brighter. The Obelisk covered his eyes as he ran after Jaden. But as he caught up with him, the light blinded them all, causing them to black out.

* * *

After quite a while from his unconsciousness, Davis felt someone woke him up from the side. "Hey, Davis, wake up already. Now's not the time to take a nap! Wake up already!" Davis slowly open his eyes and pushes himself up and sits up.

"Uh, what happened?"

"That colorful cloud of rainbows brought us here." Bart told him, which he helps out Davis to stand up on his feet… until he realized something.

"Bart… did you just… help me up… physically?" Davis asked him.

"Of course I just did… wait, what?" Bart said as he looked at himself. "Whoa! I have my physical form?!"

"It must've been the work of those lights…" May said while looking around at the archway and touching its surface, making her more curious about the place.

"H–How did that happen?" Davis asked.

"Beats me. While I came out hovering around to guide you and May and Cassie appear just in time to tell about this place, that freaky rainbow has somehow makes us real…" Bart explains as Jaden eventually wakes up from his faint as well.

"Man, I've must taken the wrong turn…" Jaden mumbles for a bit while holding his head as Winged Kuriboh appears next to him, and caught Cassie by surprise.

"AHHHHHH! WHAT THE (bleep) IS THAT THING?!" she was so shocked, she accidentally bumped onto May while taking a few steps back.

"Ow, watch it, Cassie!" May yelled.

"Hey, what the hell's going on?!" A voice shouted. Davis turned around and was surprised to see Sam, Humberto, Shannon, Rook, Fred and Ava real as well.

"Calm down, señior! I'm sure there must be some reason it happened…" Humberto said.

"I was just reading 50 Shades of Gray, until suddenly I was appeared out here…" Ava said.

"Anybody noticed the statue over there?" Rook pointed out at the large Egyptian statue in front of them.

"Cassie, have you and May found out anything about this place?" Shannon asked.

"From the looks of it that cloud has somehow teleported us to another dimension, where the once ruined place was at its prime…" Cassie explained as she got ahold of herself.

"Really? Well that explains it." Davis said. "I wonder why didn't all of the Avengers just jump out all at once instead of appearing one at the time and how the others are at this time…"

As Sam checked his surroundings, he saw someone. "Hey! There's an someone heading towards us!" he pointed out.

"Huh?" most of them said in unison as when they turn around, there was a woman who had tan skin, having her black hair tied in a ponytail, brown eyes and wearing a pair of circle earrings. She also wore a golden bandanna of some sort on her head. The clothes that she was wearing was a purple dress, which resembles the one that all of the Egyptian people used to wear in the past wear and a black cape.

"This is a sacred ground. You must leave here immediately! You are in very grave danger!" the woman warned them.

"Wow, what dorm are those clothes from? I wanna join!" Jaden said with a curious tone. At that point, more figures appeared. These were Gravekeeper Guards and they had their spears pointed at them.

"Not good." Davis muttered.

"You don't say…" Shannon said before she and the rest of the Avengers step forward.

"Girl, you better lead Davis and Jaden to safety. We'll hold them off…" May told her, which she didn't hesitate in doing and grabbed Jaden and Davis' hand and ran.

"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" Shannon shouted as they all got ready to fight and charged. "Let's buy them some time, team!"

* * *

As the coast was clear, Davis, Jaden, and the mysterious woman took a rest on the safe spot and began to ask her. "What was _that_ all about?" Jaden asked the mysterious woman.

"Those were guards of the tomb they guard." The mysterious woman said. "And now that I've gotten a better look at you three, there are people who wear a similar dress like yours."

"What?! Our friends?!" Davis said shocked. "Where are they?"

"Just what's going on here?" Jaden added.

"I have seen the strangers of your dress. They have been taken by the Gravekeeper Chief; and they will be punished for entering his sacred tomb…" the woman explains.

"Punish?!" Jaden said in shock.

"But we didn't know it before!" Davis continued. "By the way, what kind of punishment would they face?"

"Being buried alive…" she informed.

"That's it! I had enough!" Jaden interfere, gaining the attention of the rest of the group. "Lady, you better take us to them right now!" Davis was surprised by Jaden's sudden action.

"Now wait just a minute!' Davis shouting himself. "Let's just think about this. We can't just waltz in there. I know we don't want our friends to be buried alive, but we need to think of a plan that would help us save our friends and not get caught. So cool it already!"

In the end, the woman could only sigh in defeat. "So be it… you've been warned." she said as she made her way towards the destination, followed by Jaden, leaving Davis behind.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why do I always end up in these situations?" Davis groaned as he went after them.

* * *

The woman leads them to an empty dark room, which makes them suspicious for a bit.

"All of you will wait here." She instructs them.

"C'mon! I wanna see my friends!" Jaden said in an impatient tone, only to have the woman glares at him.

"I will find them. Believe me, if any of you walking about, you'd be of no use to them…" she warned him.

"Huh?" Jaden said in confusion.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Davis added.

"Either way, I'll be back." she reminded them as she walks away from the room and leaving them alone.

"Great, _now_ what should we do?" Jaden said while crossing his arms.

"Do what she says and wait." Davis said.

As they waited, Jaden looks at his deck monster and Winged Kuriboh rested on his bag while Davis was taking a power nap.

"What's taking her so long? Is she ever going to come back?" Jaden said while scratching his head.

"Calm down. She must've been negotiating with them or something…" Davis suggested.

"Wait a sec… Davis, what if she's working with these Gravekeepers?" Jaden raised up a point.

"Her?" Davis ponders a bit. "It _could_ be true… she could mean trouble…" It is then they have heard a shout for help from afar.

"Someone, help us!"

"Help! If anybody can hear us, come help us!"

"Whoa, where did those voices come from?" Davis was surprised for a bit. They looked around until they saw a window. Going over to it, outside the room they were in, was a deep rectangular pit below him. Jaden and Davis squinted seeing four stone coffins in the middle of the pit. The boys' eyes widened, seeing that in the coffins were their friends and Professor Banner. Each of them had their own coffin, and they were all wrapped with stuff that looked like it came from a mummy prep room. They also saw that Rachel's coffin was now being transported to another part of the tomb.

"Rachel!" Davis realized. "We have to help them!" But before they could get down, something poked at their bottoms and Davis doesn't seem to be pleased about it. "Ok, who's pokin' my ass at a time like this?!"

"What are you talking about? I'm right next to you and my hands are pretty much occupied!" Jaden stated before it was his butt to be poked. "Ow!"

"Get down!" a voice was heard, which scares them for a bit.

"Move towards the sharp object?! Whoa, you gotta be kidding me!" Jaden said in surprise as their butts continued to be poked.

"Hey!" Davis had enough as he was the first one to land on the ground. "You know it's rude to poke someone's ass!" he said in anger, which his only reply was a spear towards his neck, and he gulped in fear. Eventually, Jaden followed suit and the spears pointed at his neck.

"Geez, ever heard of a handshake?" Jaden joked around.

"Jaden, this isn't the 21st century, you know…" Davis corrected him.

**AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! LUFFY, BART, PIKACHU, BEN! CLEAR THE FRONT LINE!**

**GUM GUM GATLING GUN!**

**PIKAPIKAPIKAPIKA! CHU PIKA!**

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

The sound of that call, the order, and those attacks can be heard from afar as the guards were confused what was happening at that time. When the guards turn around, OOO GataKiriBa delivers a multiple Bartman Kick, destroying the entrance and managed to take down almost every single guard that was aiming at the gang.

"Bart! Shannon! Everyone!" Davis shouted as Bart reverts back to his TaToBa combo.

"Davis! Thank goodness you're alright!" Shannon said with a sigh of relief.

"For a moment there, I thought that you were gonna get killed." Bart added.

"Are you guys okay?" May asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. How did you guys get here?" Davis asked.

"After Dream's group took down the guards to stall you guys some time, there's this mysterious woman who told us to come here and save you." Cassie answered it.

"So she is really on our side the whole time." Davis realized.

"Screw that! For the time being, we better save our friends! C'mon! We got no time to waste!" Kevin commanded them as Bart and Dream moves out to lead the way. While the rest of the Avengers went towards the direction to save their trapped friends, a voice called out,

"Hold it right there!"

The Avengers, Davis, and Jaden turned to see a lot of guards surrounding them with spears. They were filling the room and soon the Avengers surrounded Jaden and Davis to protect them.

"Great, we're being outnumbered…" Felecia said it while looking at the rest of the guards as Rook and Gwen try to restrain Ben and Kevin from creating any more trouble.

"Let us go, Gwen!" Kevin yelled.

"We can handle these idiots!" Ben said.

"Guys, calm down! Think of the situation, for once!" Gwen warned them as they have no other choice but to let their weapons down and power down.

"It couldn't be helped. Even Bart had his hands full by that Gravekeeper Assailant…" J2 said as Bart's hands are at the back and a dagger was placed on his neck for the kill.

"Now what?" Nova asks them.

"There's only one thing we _can_ do… go straight to the boss, I guess…" Felecia proposed, as there in no any options left. They didn't need to do that though as a man came through the crowd, he had dark skin, much like the others, wore a fine robe of white and black with gold embroidery and a thick beard.

"Looks like the boss came to _us_…" Davis muttered.

"…And what would your name be?" Jaden asked the bearded man he assumed was the leader.

"I am the Gravekeeper Chief and you have traversed on the sacred tomb that I protect…"

"Hey, I got a proposal for ya! How about we just go and grab our pals downstairs and we'll say our goodbyes to you, and then zip back to our dimension that we came from?" Jaden proposed to the Chief while trying to keep his big grin, despite there are multiple spears pointing at him.

"That is not possible…" the Chief denied his wish.

"Why not?" Davis asked.

"Because you fools have trespassed upon my domain, and you would be punished along with your friends." the Chief said with a stern tone, which somehow annoys Davis for a reason.

"In Ancient Egypt, once a commoner has trespassed in the domain of the place that was heavily guarded without a proper reason, they would be punished immediately…" said Gwen as she explains the situation towards the rest of the Avengers.

"There must be another way to redeem it…" Rook asked the Chief.

"Anything will do, just as long as our sins will be pardoned!" Felecia continued to beg for it.

The Chief took a while to think until a smile appears on his face. "Very well, strangers… I shall pardon all of you for trespassing, only _if_ you could survive my challenge. What is your answer?"

"And the challenge would be…?" Ben tried to ask, as the Chief raised his hand to reveal one thing on his hand that says it all.

"A Dueling Deck?" Davis blinked.

"Now you're speaking _my_ language!" Jaden grinned. "Here's another condition! If we win, you would pardon all of my friends, _along_ with me! Deal?" Jaden said with excitement. The guards' pulls back their weapons away from the gang as the Chief continue to speak.

"So be it, _if_ you win." he said with a smirk on his face.

"Heh, for my friends? There's no _if_ about it, pal! I _will_ win!" Jaden said as he kneels down and opens up his bag pack, to reveal a Duel Disk from it. He then revealed an extra Duel Disk for Davis to take. "Good thing I had it on me in case, we got bored."

"Should you lose, you will be punished as well!" the Chief continues to threaten before shifting his attention to Davis. "And as for you, the guards will lead you to another place, along with your comrades."

"What kind of plan does he have in mind _now_?" Kevin asked as he noticed that something is fishy.

"Guards, lead them. I'll take care of this fool…" the Chief said as he made his way towards the dueling location as Jaden and Davis follows by to witness the duel between Jaden and the Chief.

* * *

Jaden and the Chief stood on opposite ends of the pit, high above the coffins that his friends occupied.

"You will be taken elsewhere for your trial." The guard said as Davis was taken away from Jaden.

"Hey Jaden, win this one! Alright?!" Davis called out as he the guard walked away.

"You got it, Davis!" Jaden said giving him a thumbs–up.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 4000

**Jaden:** 4000

Jaden now stood at the top of the structure surrounding the pit where his friends and Banner were. He and the Gravekeeper Chief were standing on little extensions that stuck out from opposite walls. "Good luck Jaden," Banner said. "We're all rooting for you. Very, very much so."

"Yeah, man…" Chumley muttered.

"Come on Jaden, save us." Syrus whined.

"Don't worry; you'll all be fine, as long as I beat this guy. Alright, get your game on!"

The two duelists drew their starting hands, the Chief picking up another. "Get my game on? What do you speak of?"

"Sheesh. It's a figure of speech. You know? Like slang."

"It's like slang? How dare you speak to me with a rotten tongue of a filthy serpent?! I play a Monster face down, in defense mode, thus ending my turn." The Chief hissed, setting his Monster card on the field, letting it appear on the Field.

"And starting mine," Jaden drew his sixth card, "And I'll go after your facedown Monster with my Elemental Hero Stratos!" He played the card on his disk letting the metal–winged Hero appeared in the sky. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 300) "And when summoned, I'll take an Elemental Hero from my Deck and place it in my Hand. And I'll choose my Elemental Hero Heat!" After searching through his deck, he grabbed his chosen "Now Stratos attack!" Stratos launched twin tornadoes that blew across the field and then slammed into the facedown card. Everyone saw that the card was not budging and staying weighted on the Field.

"Wait a second…" Syrus watched on.

"What's going on?" Jaden gasped.

"You have attacked a Monster that can withstand your attack," the Chief laughed, "That is what's going on!" The facedown card then revealed a dark–skinned man with black dreadlocks, dressed in a large black cloak and used it to repel the winds. (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 2000)

"That monster has 2000 DEF!" Chumley shouted.

"And that means Jaden loses Life Points," Syrus added. Jaden groaned as his points went down.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 4000

**Jaden:** 3800

"Also, you have just put your friends in even more danger." The Chief smirked as he pointed towards the coffins.

"Huh?" Jaden wondered as he looked down. Once he did, Syrus, Chumley, Pharaoh, and Banner gasped as they saw their coffins start to close in a little. "What!?"

"Each time you lose Life Points, their coffins will close little by little," the Chief stated, "At 0, they will be buried… What's more is that I can choose a Gravekeeper Monster from my Deck and summon it directly to the field," he continued as his disk pushed out his selected card, "And I choose Gravekeeper's Cannonholder in defense mode!" Another dark–skinned man in black robes appeared, but this one carried a golden cannon with Egyptian markings carved into it. (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200)

Jaden sighed as he inserted a card into his disk, "I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn."

"Then it is my turn," the Chief announced, drawing his next card, "I activate the Continuous Spell, Dark Room of Nightmare!" The Spell appeared by his side, letting an ominous smoke appear across the Field.

"What's going on?" Jaden wondered.

"That's the least of your worries," the Chief replied, playing another card, "Now rise up, Gravekeeper's Curse!" Next to the Cannonholder, another black robed man with braided dark hair appeared with a short, curved staff in his hands. (3/ATK: 800/ATK: 800) "And once summoned, he deals 500 points of Damage to you!" Gravekeeper's Curse's staff seemed to grow larger as the monster began to glow with a yellow aura. And then Jaden started glowing with the same aura, and started writhing in pain!

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 4000

**Jaden:** 3300

"And since Effect Damage has been done, the effect of Dark Room of Nightmare activates! It deals another 300 points of Damage!" Then, the smoke started to cover Jaden's face, making him cough and choke as he lost more points.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 4000

**Jaden:** 3000

All the while, the coffins started to close up more to the boys' and cat's dismay. "Next, I use the effect of my Cannonholder which will deal 700 points of Damage and will also add another 300 points thanks to my Spell! All I have to do is sacrifice my Gravekeeper's Curse to do so!" Curse vanished into a white light that went to Cannonholder's weapon. Once charged, he fired a blast that absorbed some of the smoke and slammed right into Jaden, making him cry out in pain and land on his back.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 4000

**Jaden:** 2000

"Jaden!" Syrus shouted, but whimpered as half of his coffin was sealed with the others.

"I then end my turn." Chief smirked.

Jaden got up on his feet, trying to fight the pain and control his breathing, "Alright, I get it now… it's not about just the Life Points, it's our lives. And I need to make a comeback!" He announced, drawing his next card. "I summon Elemental Hero Knopse!" The small flower hero appeared next to Stratos, aiming the seed pods on its arms. (3/ATK: 600/DEF: 1000)

"That weakling won't be able to touch my Life Points, you worthless cur!"

"Check out the special ability," the Slifer countered, "It can attack directly since I have another Elemental Hero out!"

"What!?"

The hero duelist commanded as the little flower hero launched two giant, yellow seeds from her hands and struck the Chief's disk.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 3400

**Jaden:** 2000

"And whenever Knopse does battle damage, she gains 100 ATK and loses 100 DEF points," Jaden stated as Knopse gained a green aura around it

Elemental Hero Knopse (3/ATK: 600–700/DEF: 1000–900),

"And then, I'll have Stratos take out your Cannonholder!" The flying hero charged into the Cannonholder, tackling him to the ground and into pixels. "Now, I'll call it a turn."

"And it begins mine," the Chief stated, drawing his next card. "I set one Monster in defense mode to end my turn." He stated, placing another monster down on the Field.

"At least Jaden's looking better," Banner stated, "But who knows what the Chief is planning…"

"You keep defending," Jaden grinned, drawing his next card, "And I'll just knock 'em down! Elemental Hero Heat, join the fight!" He announced as his muscular hero of flames appeared. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200) "And with his special ability in play, he gains 200 ATK for everyone Elemental Hero I got out and that's three!" the Core of the E–Hero started to burn brightly as he gained more strength.

Elemental Hero Heat (4/ATK: 1600–2200/1200)

"That means he can beat the Spy!" Chumley cheered, "Lishus!"

"And that's what he's _going_ to do, Chum!" Jaden announced as Elemental Hero Heat launched a burning flame from his hands, torching the spy into ashes. "And then Knopse will attack directly again!" Next, the flower bud launched another two seeds at the Gravekeeper duelist, who had more common sense to dodge them this time by ducking.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2700

**Jaden:** 2000

Knopse's power shifted once more…

Elemental Hero Knopse (3/ATK: 700–800/DEF: 900–800)

"And I'll end my turn." Jaden concluded.

"Why not attack his Set Monster?" Syrus asked in confusion.

"Remember what happened when he did that with Stratos and the Spy," Banner stated, "I bet Jaden's waiting to use Heat to attack once more since it'll be higher than 1800 ATK."

"I draw," the Chief announced, drawing his next card, "I play Pot of Greed!" He drew two more cards, "Next, I discard my Gravekeeper's Commandant to add a Field Spell to my hand called Necrovalley!" He discarded his Monster card, and then another card appeared in his Hand. "And then, I summon Gravekeeper's Descendant!" In a flash, a younger Gravekeeper appeared in the same black robes, but with short and blond hair. He looked sternly at Jaden's side of the Field. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200) "And then, I cast the Field Spell Necrovalley!" The end of his tray popped open and he placed the card into it. Jaden watched in amazement as the top of the tomb disappeared and a huge valley of dark rocks and dirt in the air appeared all around them. Both he and the Chief stood on top of giant rock pillars while their monsters floated on nothingness.

"Not good…"

The Chief nodded, "As long as this card remains on the Field, the power of the Necrovalley will increase the attack and defense points of my Gravekeeper's by 500!"

"What?!" Jaden's eyes widened, "You're kidding!" The Descendant smirked as he felt his power grow.

Gravekeeper's Descendant (4/ATK: 1500–2000/DEF: 1200–1700)

"And then, I reveal my Gravekeeper's Guard!" The Chief continued as his facedown monster card flipped vertically and revealed itself. It was a bald, heavyset man wielding a long spear poised at Jaden's Monsters. (4/ATK: 1000–1500/DEF: 1900–2400)

Jaden sighed "I knew it, glad I didn't attack him."

"It wouldn't have mattered… Once revealed, I can send one Monster back to you Hand! I choose your Elemental Hero Heat!"

Jaden gasped as Heat vanished in a bright light. "Oh no…"

"Descendant, attack Stratos!" Chief announced as his Monster gathered a white energy orb in his hands and then fired it at the monster in question, blowing him off the field.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2700

**Jaden:** 1800

"And since it is all alone now, my Guard will attack that worthless flower!" He continued as his new monster charged at Knopse…

"Sorry, but Stratos is making a comeback," Jaden countered, revealing his facedown card, "Go Call of the Haunted!"

"You have the wisdom of dirt," the Chief spat at him, "Necrovalley negates that effect!"

"Huh?!" He gasped as Call of the Haunted's picture went black.

"Any Spell, Trap, or Monster Effect involving the Graveyard is completely useless! Just as you have proven to be in your effort to save your friends." the Chief laughed out loud, "Don't you see? Both you and your cards are useless here!" Jaden looked down at his Duel Disk and groaned. Right now, Stratos was his only Monster but he was now weaker than his opponent's Monster. And then he watched as Knopse squeaked in pain, when it was run through by the guard's spear.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2700

**Jaden:** 1100

"No way, Jaden can still win this!" Syrus protested.

"I hope so," Chumley replied.

"Oh no, it's no use, we're done for!" Banner moaned.

"That's not true!" Syrus shot back at his professor.

"Look at the Life Points and the Field!" Banner snapped lightly, "Jaden has no Monsters out with 1100 and the Gravekeeper's Chief has two Monsters!" Jaden felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek as the Gravekeeper Chief laughed confidently.

_'How did this happen? We set out to find some ruins, and suddenly we're about to_ become _some! This is no joke… if I don't get my game on, we're all gonna be_ long _gone!'_ Jaden thought. The screams and cries for help from his friends and teacher rang in Jaden's ears as he stood silently on his side of the Field.

"Don't fret about your friends screams," the Chief chuckled, "Soon, their voices will be muffled as they are buried alive deep beneath the Earth." Down below, his friends watched on for their would–be savior.

"I know you can win this, Jay!" Syrus said hopefully.

"And I know I want outta here!" Chumley moaned.

"Alright, now let's finish this!" Jaden drew his card. The second he pulled it out of his Deck, he heard a familiar cry. He looked down at the card and smiled, knowing it was his furry friend. That smile stayed as his turned to look at Winged Kuriboh, who stayed by his head, floating in mid–air, "I should've known! You always got my back, don't ya pal?" Winged Kuriboh seemed to smile beneath his fur as he bounced up and down happily in the air. "Or in this case," Jaden turned back to the duel, "To guard my front. Winged Kuriboh, I'm summoning you in DEF mode!" Jaden slapped the card sideways on his disk and seconds later, his Duel Spirit appeared before him. (1/ATK: 300/DEF: 200) "And then a facedown card!" He added, inserting the Set card. He looked down at the coffins below him, "Hang on guys, I'll get you out of there!" he promised. Jaden looked back up to his opponent, "Your move!"

"How fitting; the blind lead the blind and the weak protect the weak. Hiding behind that Kuriboh may be your idea of defense, but in my world, rodents like that are meant for pounding, not protecting!" the Chief laughed.

"He's no rodent!" Jaden snapped at him, "He's one of my very best friends!" He looked at his facedown card, _'and you're about to see why…'_

"Well, with friends like you he needs no enemies," the Chief commented as he drew his next card, "After all, you've just thrown him to the wolves!" he pointed to the Kuriboh, "Go, Gravekeeper's Guard, destroy him!"

"Wrong!" Jaden watched as his facedown turned upward to reveal a pair of white feathered wings, "I got a Spell card! Transcendent Wings! Now, by giving up two cards," he paused as two of his cards from his glowed and appeared in the Graveyard, "he goes up to LV10!" Kuriboh let out a cry as an orb of bright blue light enveloped him.

The Chief smiled, "Foolhardy as it was predictable! Brainless cur, I _knew_ that you would play that!"

Jaden stared at him, "Huh?"

"Which is why I have this ready!" the Chief held up a card from his Hand, "Behold the power of the Gravekeeper's Watcher!" Jaden watched as the card in the Chief's hand glowed purple and from it came a man in similar robes to the Chief, a thick book held close to his body and a black turban–like hat on his hand.

"What the!?" Jaden watched as the Watcher approached the transforming Kuriboh. The purple aura clashed against the blue orb of light, sending sparks of both colors everywhere. "What's happening!?"

"Fool," the Chief smirked, "The same thing that's been happening since the beginning of this duel. You're losing! You see, by sending Watcher to the Graveyard," he paused and placed the card into the slot, "I can negate your level up as it is a move that involves discarding from your Hand!" Seconds after the Watcher was sent to the Graveyard, the purple aura disappeared and Kuriboh remained in his original form. Once clear, Gravekeeper's Guard struck Kuriboh through the body, sending the fur ball straight to the Graveyard.

Jaden grunted at the loss, "Sorry, Winged Kuriboh. You took one for the team there. Thanks, pal…"

"Good thing Winged Kuriboh was there," Syrus murmured.

Chumley turned to the direction of his friends' voice, even though he couldn't see him, "You can say that again, Sy. His effect makes it so that Jaden doesn't take any Damage on the turn he's destroyed."

"Let's see. I've countered your move, I've destroyed your rodent, so there's not much left to do except place two cards facedown," the Chief slipped a couple of cards into his disk.

"Enough!" Jaden snapped, "Winged Kuriboh's not a rodent!"

The Chief laughed, "Would you prefer vermin or even rat?" he taunted.

"That's it!" Jaden growled as he drew his next card, "I play Legacy of the Hero, allowing me to draw three times since I have 2 Hero Monsters that's over level 4!" he drew three more cards, "Now to play one of my new cards. I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat!" In a flash of flame, the second Heroine of Fire appeared. (4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1000) "And then, I'll add another with my Mask Change Spell Card!" He continued, inserting the Quick–Play Spell. "This lets me send Lady Heat into the Graveyard in order to Special Summon a Masked Hero from the Fusion Deck!"

"What's this?" the Chief gasped as his monsters braced themselves.

"Lady Heat, perform the Transformation Summon!" Jaden announced as his heroine jumped into Neo Space and donned a red mask she pulled out of nowhere. Once she did, a light enveloped her and started to change her outfit in accordance with the new mask. And when it was completed, Lady Heat was now clad in a new red and black outfit with a mask that had blue visor. She then charged up, letting fire fly out of her body. (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1800)

"Meet Masked Hero Goka and she gains 100 ATK for every Hero card in my Graveyard! And last I counted it was four, meaning 400 ATK!" Goka roared as a burning aura appeared around her body.

Masked Hero Goka (6/ATK: 2200–2600/DEF: 1800)

"Alright, he has the most powerful Monster on the Field!" Syrus cheered.

"Goka, attack his Descendant!" Jaden announced as his Masked Hero suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Descendant. Once there, she surrounded him in a pillar of flames that destroyed him to the dismay of the Chief.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2100

**Jaden:** 1100

"Now, I place two cards facedown and add my Mirage of Nightmare on the Field to end my turn." He concluded, inserting his three cards into his disk. 'Ok, that should do it,' the Slifer thought, _'And that should set me up to win this match!'_

"Very well; my draw…"

Just as the Chief drew his card, Jaden grinned, "My chance to activate my Mirage card! When you draw your next card, my Mirage of Nightmare allows me to draw until I have four cards in my Hand," After drawing, Jaden looked at his hand, "Sweet!"

"Sweet?" the Chief raised an eyebrow, "Does that wretched slang mean you've drawn some good cards? Well don't be so sure, you don't know what is good because you don't know what you're up against!"

Jaden took a deep breath, _'I don't like the sound of this…'_

"I shall now activate Graceful Charity to draw three cards and then discard two of them to the Graveyard," He announced, drawing his three cards and sent two Monsters into the Graveyard. "And now, I sacrifice Gravekeeper's Guard to summon… myself! Gravekeeper's Chief!" the Chief held up a card from his Hand.

"Summon yourself?!" Jaden repeated, not sure he heard right.

The Gravekeeper's Guard disappeared in a swirling mass of light and was soon replaced by the owner of the card itself! (5/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200)

"Thanks to the power of Necrovalley, I gain 500 extra attack points and defense points, also, with me on the field, my Graveyard isn't effected by Necrovalley!" the Chief smirked as his power increased,

Gravekeeper's Chief (5/ATK: 1900–2400/DEF: 1200–1700)

"Meaning I can use Spells, Traps, and Monster Effects on any Monsters laid to rest there. But that's not all; I get to summon one Gravekeeper from my Graveyard!"

"Oh boy…" Jaden gulped at the news, "No way!"

"Rise! Gravekeeper's Assailant!" the Chief commanded as his Graveyard slot glowed brightly. Soon enough, another Gravekeeper, but feminine as the black robe only showed off her tanned legs. She had a mask covering her mouth and a sharp dagger in her hands. (4/ATK: 1500–2000/DEF: 1500–2000)

"Now, I will activate my Rite of Spirit Traps!" He continued, revealing his two facedown cards, "Even without myself present on the field, it could summon a Gravekeeper Monster from my graveyard! And I choose my Gravekeeper's Cannonholder and Gravekeeper's Curse!" Along with the dreadlocked man wielding the curved staff (3/ATK: 800–1300/DEF: 800–1300), the man with the large cannon reappeared as well. (4/1400–1900/1200–1700) Once Curse settled on his side of the Field, he glowed once again to activate his effect.

"And with the power of Curse, you lose 500 Life Points!" Chief grinned, "Also, another 300 since Dark Room of Nightmare is also present on the Field!"

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2100

**Jaden:** 300

"Behold, the Shadow Game's power!"

Jaden fell to his knees, "Sh–Shadow Game?!" he panted, "Is _that_ what this is?!"

"Yes," the Chief laughed again, "and the game's almost over. For you, your Life Points, and for your friends!" he pointed downward and Jaden saw that the coffins were once again, closing by a little bit.

Jaden took another deep breath, "C'mon Jaden… gotta get your game on! Gotta do it for your friends, they're all counting on you! Don't let them down! Especially when down means six feet under in an old sarcophagus," he shook his head, "No way, no how!" Jaden looked at his friends, and then turned to the Chief, "That's it, they're coming home!"

"That's right! They're eternal home! Gravekeeper's Assailant, attack with Stealth Slice Strike!" the Chief ordered, pointing to the Masked Hero Goka, "And if you're wondering why my Assailant is attacking a stronger monster, she has the effect to change that Masked Hero's mode from attack to defense!" Goka groaned as the Assailant slowly descended upon it with a magical aura around them both, causing the former to kneel down. The Assailant then cut down weak and defenseless Hero with one slice.

"You've lost this duel!" the Chief cried triumphantly, "As I will personally deliver the final blow!" He then held out his hand as a ball of red energy gathered in his palm, "I still have an attack. Now, I will use it!" he yelled, launching the energy at Jaden.

"Oh no, you won't!" Jaden shot back as he pressed another button on his disk, "Go Trap card, Draining Shield and then I'll activate my Emergency Provision Spell along with it!" Both of the Slifer's facedown cards appeared. "First, Emergency Provisions will send my Draining Shield and my Mirage of Nightmare Spell to the Graveyard, and I gain 1000 Life Points for each one!" Both of the mentioned cards vanished into glowing stars that surrounded Jaden, healing him from much of the damage that was dealt to him.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2100

**Jaden:** 2300

"And then, I can still use Draining Shield!" Jaden continued as a golden dome of energy appeared around Jaden and absorbed the Chief's attack. "This not only negates your attack, but I gain Life Points equal to your Monster's ATK!"

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2100

**Jaden:** 4700

"Alright, he's gotten more than his starting Life Points!" Banner praised.

"And they'll soon go down!" the Chief snarled, "Cannonholder, attack!" Cannonholder launched a massive blast at Jaden, sending him to the ground once more.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2100

**Jaden:** 2800

"Curse, attack with Doomsday Purge!" The spellcaster in question started glowing with a sickly green aura, pointing it at Jaden's fallen form. Once then, Jaden continued to writhe in pain as his points continued to drop.

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2100

**Jaden:** 1500

"And now I'll activate my Cannonholder's effect once more to sacrifice Gravekeeper's Curse to deal 700 points of Damage, plus 300 from my Dark Room of Nightmare!" Once again, Curse's life energy went into Cannonholder's weapon to let out another blast, combined with the smoke, to cause Jaden more pain!

**Gravekeeper's Chief:** 2100

**Jaden:** 500

Soon, everyone's coffins were close to being sealed. The Chief laughed as Jaden managed to pick himself up from his place on the ground, "You're proving to be even less of a challenge than I thought," he paused, hearing sobs coming from Jaden, "Come now, fight back! This is barely fun anymore!" The sobs turned into laughter as Jaden lifted his head, a large smile on his face.

"Really? Because I'm having a blast!"

"Your friends lives are at risk, and you say you are having a blast?" the Chief asked, not sure if his opponent was going insane.

"You got _that_ right," Jaden rose to his feet, dusting the seat of his pants off, "Because I'm just one turn away from winning this duel!"

"You are wrong," the Chief argued, "and once you see what I'm about to play, you'll see why!" he slipped a card into his disk, "I play the Spell known as Royal Tribute! This is a card that I can activate as long as Necrovalley is on the Field! Now, we both discard all Monster cards in our Hands to the Graveyard!"

Jaden looked down at his hand to see his only Monster disappear and then reappear in his Graveyard slot, "Not good!"

"No, it's not!" the Chief smiled, "Well, not for you at least. Now, whatever Monsters you were planning to win with–"

"–are gone," Jaden finished. He looked at the remaining card, _'All I have is a trap that's useless without the right Monster. With no Monsters in my Hand, I gotta draw something big to save my friends. It all comes down to this!'_ Jaden drew his card and looked at it, _'Sweet! One of my most powerful Monsters!'_ he thought with a smile before looking up at the Chief.

The Chief chuckled again, "Drawn a good Monster have you? Too bad you can't use a sacrifice to bring it out!"

Scowling, Jaden looked at his card again, _'He's right. For this one, I'd have two sacrifice two Monsters and I don't have any!'_

He stood there for a few moments looking at his two cards and smiled after his period of silence. He glanced up at his opponent, "Then again. Maybe… just maybe, I don't _need_ any!" he nodded, "Yeah! Necrovalley Field Spell card is all I need!"

"Please!" the Chief scoffed, "Necrovalley negates any effect aimed at monsters in the Graveyard!"

Jaden only grinned, "Exactly. Only it doesn't negate the effects coming out of the Graveyard!"

"WHAT?!"

"Don't 'what' me! You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about! My Monsters in the Graveyard? If they have an effect I can use, I'm gonna use them!"

"NO!"

"Yes…" Jaden reached for his Graveyard, "and I'm sure I can find one that'll come in handy right now! After all, it's been a long duel and I got a bunch of Monsters down in the Graveyard to choose from! Thanks to that card you played earlier…"

* * *

Flashback

_"You are wrong," the Chief argued, "and once you see what I'm about to play, you'll see why!" he slipped a card into his disk, "I play the Spell known as Royal Tribute! This is a card that I can activate as long as Necrovalley is on the Field! Now, we both discard all Monster cards in our Hands to the Graveyard!"_

End Flashback

* * *

"Yeah, you see, what helped you out so much back then, is gonna hurt you now!" Jaden grinned as his Graveyard glowed, "Because that one Monster I discarded was a certain Elemental Hero… one called the Elemental Hero Necroshade (5/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800)!" The Chief watched in amazement as a new monster appeared behind him. It had blood-red flesh, huge shoulders, and bone armor covering a little bit of its body. "He allows me to summon one Elemental Hero without a sacrifice one time and one time is all I really need!" Jaden slapped a card onto his disk, "Because the monster I'm gonna bring out is the Elemental Hero Bladedge!" The Gravekeeper's were astonished as the gold, sharp hero appeared. (7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1800)

"Now, I place one card facedown to end my turn!"

"After all that to summon Bladedge, he quits!" Syrus shouted.

"He almost had it won!" Chumley cheered.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Banner told them.

"Wha?" The boys said.

"That facedown card must be unique," The headmaster informed them. "Why risk attacking?"

"But he could've attacked the Cannonholder!"

"Oh man…"

The Chief laughed again. "Just forfeit! I know that card's a bluff." He drew. "And I'll prove it with this attack!" Assailant was ready to strike when…

"Not quite!" Jaden lifted up his trap. "Go Edge Hammer!" Bladedge started to glow a brighter golden aura and got ready to charge. "By sacrificing Bladedge, I can destroy a Monster and deal you Damage equal to that Monster's ATK points!" He then smirked, "And I'll take _you_ down!" The Chief gasped as Bladedge charged at him and knocked him off the field and his Life Points down!

**Chief:** 0

**Jaden:** 300

* * *

"That's game!" Jaden did his two finger salute as Necrovalley sank into nothingness and the surrounding tomb appeared once more. The Chief groaned in pain as the Assailant and a group of spear–carrying Gravekeeper's ran to the both of them.

"Is he okay?!" Jaden ran around the square perimeter as the Assailant got her leader to his feet. He was then barred passage from reaching them by the other Gravekeepers. The Chief noticed this and waved his arm, "No! He lives!" he looked at Jaden, "He was a worthy opponent."

Jaden grinned, "Aw thanks! Your moves were pretty tight, too! It was a sweet match, let's duel again sometime!"

"What?" the Chief stared, flabbergasted, 'You mean you enjoyed playing in a Shadow Game?"

Jaden nodded and looked at the people keeping him from advancing, "And you guys? You were pretty scary!" The Gravekeepers only stared at them, not sure what to say.

"Only one other person has passed this challenge," the Chief took a deep breath, still recovering from the attack, "That is, until now. For overcoming our trials, I bequeath unto you," he reached up and pulled at something from under his shirt and gave it to Jaden, "this mystic medallion."

"Some gift," Jaden held up the pendant, "It's only half!"

"But of course!" the Chief lightly scolded, "The only other person who passed the challenge has the other half. Hopefully, when the time comes for you to battle in another Shadow Game, this medallion will serve you well,"

"Sweetness… I'll be sure to remember that," Jaden said as he placed the medallion necklace around his neck. He then watched as the Chief waved his arm, then saw the coffins down below them open all the way, his friends free at last.

"We're free!" Syrus yelled happily.

"Ugh, someone turn down the light!" Chumley moaned.

"Not me, I love light, light is my friend!" Banner said joyously as Pharaoh mewled. And with that, the wrappings that bind them, were loose and were able to get out.

Syrus then remembered something… "Hold on, Davis has to get Rachel before we can leave!"

"That's right…" Jaden remembered. _'I just hope they're okay…'_

Meanwhile, Davis and the rest of the Avengers were being led by the guards. After a while, they've reached upon a room. After the guards left, Davis and the Avengers went through the door and inside. Inside was a room with dim lighting of torches lining up both sides of the room. "What _is_ this place?" Davis wondered. "I can't see anything."

"Davis!" A voice called.

"Huh?! Rachel?! Rachel, is that you?!" Davis called out. As if on cue, the torches burned bright enough for everyone to see. The room was lined with ancient hieroglyphics. And it was very spacious too. At the end of the room, was an opened coffin on the wall; and in that coffin was Rachel wrapped in bandages up to her neck. "Rachel!" Davis cried out.

"Davis!" Rachel cried out. Davis then ran to get her, but was stopped by a figure who tried to hit him with his staff. Kurogasa reacted quickly and jumped back from the figure's attack as the Avengers came up to Davis. The figure was revealed to be a man in black trench coat with a blue scarf around his neck, tan pants and sandals, wearing a jackal styled helmet on him carrying a staff.

"Who are you?!" Davis demanded.

"I am the Gravekeeper Chief's second–in–command, the Gravekeeper Commandant. You can call me Karheim. While my master took care of your friend up there, you and I shall have a little duel of our own. The same condition applies in here as well. Do you agree with the terms…? Avenger?" Karheim said to Davis as he has his Deck at his hand as well.

"I accept your challenge." Davis said. "I'm going to win and free Rachel!"

"We shall see. Normally, you would be punished on the spot, but luckily for you today, thanks to your different-colored friends' persuasiveness, the Chief is merciful and said he would pardon you and your concubine if you pass my challenge." Both Davis and Rachel stopped, listening at the word 'concubine,' and blushed at the meaning.

"Hey!" Both of them shouted. "We're not like that!"

"And yet you still fight for her?" Karheim asked. "If you have no affiliation with her?"

"Hey, we're just friends alright?!" Davis snarled.

"Davis, why can't you just admit that you really like her?" Now it's the Avengers' turn to tease him and the first to take the first blood was Felecia.

"Yeah, besides, you two are made for each other!" May supported.

"Even your comrades tell the truth. It is proven that you have an affiliation with her. No matter how much you tried to lie your heart said otherwise, hence, the reason why your judgment has been clouded by doubts…" Karheim further explained.

"Urgh… this is clearly not the time to be talking about stuff like this! Let's just duel!" Davis snapped.

"So be it. Let us commence the duel." Karheim said calmly as he placed his deck onto a tomb that resembles a duel table.

"Avengers, assemble!" Kurogasa called.

"Right!" All of the Avengers said in unison as they glowed and went into the Deck. Davis placed his deck into his Duel Disk and it went from standby to active. Both players drew their starting Hands.

"DUEL!"

**Karheim:** 4000

**Davis:** 4000

"I shall start this battle…" Karheim said as he draws out his sixth card. "I shall activate a Field Spell Card, Necrovalley." he declared it with a calm tone as the torches' flare began to rise, which turns the whole surrounding into a desert, covered with canyons on one side and a pyramid on the other. "Then I shall set a Monster face down and set one card face down. This will conclude my turn." Karheim said while setting the cards on his duel table.

"It's my turn! Draw!" Davis declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Ben 10 in ATK mode!" The young Omnitrix-wielder appeared. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500). "And I'm not done yet, I'll activate his special ability which allows me to send him back to my Deck in exchange for an Omnitrix monster! So I Special Summon XLR8!" Ben pressed the Omnitrix and in a green flash, the reptilian speedster appeared (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1000). "And when he attacks successfully, he can attack again!"

"What?!" Karheim roared.

"Go Ben, destroy his face down Monster and attack Karheim!" Davis commanded. XLR8 delivered a barrage of kicks and destroyed the card in an instant, then ran to Karheim to give him a powerful tail whip, making Karheim flinch for a bit.

**Karheim:** 2000

**Davis:** 4000

"It seems like you are determined to save your loved one…" Karheim made a remark about that matter.

"I told you we're just friends!" Davis snapped. "I place one card face down and end my turn." A reversed card appeared on the Field.

"He's right! We're just friends!" Rachel shouted at him, which Karheim didn't seem fazed one bit.

"It is my move." Karheim draws out his next card. "I summon Sangan in ATK mode." With a swift move, a portal appears as a round fluffy monster, armed with sharp claws and have three eyes appears onto the field and it gives out a threatening roar at the enemy. (3/ATK: 1000 /DEF: 600)

"Okay, what's the point of _that_?" Davis asked.

"With this Monster, you will enjoy the torture for the next three turns…" Karheim said in a stern tone, leaving Rachel confused for a bit.

"But XLR8 is still stronger than his Monster." Rachel pointed out.

"But for the next three turns of his, he will suffer. I reveal my facedown…" he said as he flips up the trap card of his and the view of the card shocked Davis. "Crush Card Virus!"

"Oh no!" Rachel gasped.

"It is time to seal your fate, Avenger. I will sacrifice my Sangan in order spread its virus onto your Monster!" Karheim said as his monster began to feel pain and exploded, to reveal viruses spreading towards Davis' side, Hand and Field. XLR8 was having a hard time trying to get rid of it but it suddenly gets weaker as time passes by. "As of right now, any Monster which has more than 1500 ATK points will be destroyed immediately! Not only that, any cards in your Hand that has Monsters more than 1500 ATK will also be eliminated!" Karheim declared as XLR8 turns back into Ben, who then explodes into pixels. Davis gritted as he looked at his Hand and he had Pikachu, Reptil and Spider-Girl. He discarded the latter two cards to the Graveyard.

"Under Sangan's effect, I am allowed to add one Monster that has 1500 ATK or less from my Deck to my Hand." Karheim said as he searches for a card in his Deck and shows Gravekeeper's Priestess to Kurogasa before adding it to his Hand. "I set two cards face down and end my turn." Karheim said as he placed the two cards face down and looks at Davis with a stern look on his eyes. "Now, Davis, I want to witness how your judgment will be submitted under these conditions…"

_'Davis, stay strong…'_ Rachel thought worried for him.

"Grr… Draw!" Davis drew his next card. It turned out to be Cyclone. "Yes! I play Double Summon allowing me to summon both Cyclone and Pikachu in ATK mode!" Maxine (4/ATK: 1350/DEF: 1700) and Pikachu (3/ATK: 1100/DEF: 700) appeared on the Field, ready for battle. "And I'm not gonna fall for those traps of yours so I'll end my turn there."

"Very well." Karheim said as he drew out his next card. "From my Hand, I activate Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two new cards." he added as he demonstrates on what he said and took out one of the cards from his Hand. "And now, I shall summon my Gravekeeper Priestess in ATK mode!" When he summoned that card, a priestess of the Gravekeeper, having a black hair and wears an ancient white Egyptian dress and a headdress appeared. Her eyes are covered in a visor and she wields a staff on her hand. (3/ATK: 1000–1500/DEF: 1500–2000)

"And with her effect, all face–up Gravekeepers gains an additional 200 ATK and DEF, as long as she is on the Field."

Gravekeeper Priestess (3/ATK: 1500–1700/DEF: 2000–2200)

"Priestess shall destroy your Pikachu!" Karheim declared as the Priestess dashes forward, thrusting her staff onto Pikachu.

"Activate trap, Negate Attack!" Davis declared. "This stops your attack and ends the Battle Phase immediately!" A barrier appears right in front of Pikachu and manages to reflect the attack of the Priestess, forcing her to return back to square one.

"This may be the beginning, but no matter what, you cannot let your guard down for one moment… with the execution of the Monster has been done, you have ended the first trial of judgment." Karheim said as he stood tall, looking onto the worried Rachel. "If he cannot defend himself for the remaining two turns, you will never see the sunlight again."

"No! I believe in Davis! He can turn the whole thing around with his cards in his Hand and his belief in his Deck!" Rachel shouted back at him.

"I see… you may proceed with your turn, Avenger." Karheim told him.

"My turn! Draw!" Davis drew his next card. It was a Trap card. "I _also_ Play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Davis drew two more. Thankfully, they weren't Monster cards. "Now I set a facedown and play the Quick–Play Spell, Rush Recklessly! For one turn, Cyclone's ATK is increased by 700!" Maxine glowed a green aura as she felt power surge within him.

Cyclone (4/ATK: 1350–2050/DEF: 1400).

"Next I activate Mystical Space Typhoon destroying one of your facedowns!" A cyclone came out of the cards and destroyed one of them which was Judgment of Anubis. "And I destroyed a good one too. Cyclone will attack Gravekeeper's Priestess!"

"Ah, but yet, it was all a futile move. I activate my other trap card, Reinforcements." Karheim flips up the next trap card, which increases the Priestess's aura. "With this trap card, she will gain an additional 500 ATK, which is enough to counter your Monster's attack. Retaliate, my servant!"

Gravekeeper Priestess: (3/ATK: 1700–2200/DEF: 2200)

As Maxine finished conjuring her tornadoes, she flew towards the Priestess and launched them, only to have them miss and the Priestess thrust her staff thrust through her chest, destroying her in pixels.

**Karheim:** 2000

**Davis:** 3850

At this point, the tomb's cover slowly dragged itself and only covers a very small portion of it, surprising Rachel. "W–What's the meaning of this?!" Rachel said.

"As I have told him before, for every time he loses Life Points, your fate will be sealed and once he has reached 0, you will no longer being able to see the world again!" Karheim reminded her before shifting back his attention to Rachel. "Will you able to save your lover before time runs out, Avenger?"

"I said we're not like that! I'll have Pikachu attack! And He can attack directly! Quick Attack!"

"Pika!" Pikachu responded as he ran at superspeed like if he was teleporting. When he appeared in front of Karheim, he did a powerful tail whip, only to have Karheim block it, making him flinch a bit.

**Karheim:** 900

**Davis:** 3850

"Then I place my last card face down and end my turn!"

"You may be in the lead, but I am far from finished." Karheim said as he drew out his next card. "First, I will set out a Monster card, and without further hesitation, I attack your Pikachu!" Karheim lunges his hand forward and the priestess once again wield her staff tightly and rush towards Pikachu.

"Activate Volt Tackle!" Davis countered revealing his trap. "Now when Pikachu is on the Field, all cards on your side of the Field are destroyed and you take 300 points for each destroyed and I count two!" As the priestess charged, Pikachu ran as he glowed and started surging with electricity.

"PIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKAPIKA...CHU!" With that said, the powerful tackle destroyed both the Priestess and the facedown monster, some damage even went to Karheim.

**Karheim:** 300

**Davis:** 3850

"It seems like the goddesses are really on your side." he said while taking a look at his Field. "With the execution of the attack, you have survived the second trial of your judgment. But tell me, Avenger… will you survive another one? And I'll be sure to give you something that will definitely cost you your life…" Karheim said as a small smirk appears on his face, setting his glare onto his opponent.

"I won't fall here!" Davis drew his next card. "Karheim! Be prepared… because…"

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"What?!" he was shocked by the claim.

"I play Graceful Charity allowing me to draw three cards and discard two!" Davis said as he did as the card instructed. "Next I summon Fred Fredburger in ATK mode!" The elephant thing appeared (3/ATK: 700/DEF: 1900). "Yes!" Fred Fredburger stated.

"Ha! How can you beat me with that pathetic excuse for a- oh wait. He has enough ATK points to beat me, doesn't he?" Karheim just noticed.

"Yup. Now finish it off Fred!" Davis ordered.

"But I have to go make a poo poo!" Fred said as he started to struggle, meaning that he was telling the truth as he ran to find the restroom.

"Fred, wait!" Davis yelled but Fred just vanished. "Son of a Bitch!"

"Great. I'm doomed." Rachel groaned.

"Ha ha ha! Now all I have to do is-!" But as Karheim was about to finish, a giant pack of nachos fell on him, depleting the remaining Life Points and supposedly crushed him.

"What the-(PIKA)?!" Davis, Rachel, and Pikachu shouted as they saw this.

**Karheim:** 0

**Davis:** 3850

* * *

As the duel ended Davis looked around and noticed that they were still in the room. When he slowly got up to sit–up right, Rachel suddenly hugged him much to Kurogasa's surprise. "Thank you for saving me… I was getting so worried about you…" she said, her voice trembling as a couple of tears appeared in her eyes, but they didn't fall off her face.

"Sorry…" Davis said slowly hugging her back before she let go. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Well that's a relief!" Ben said relieved.

"Yeah, you manage to save Rachel…" Humberto told him.

"And yet survived another Shadow Game!" Cyclone pointed out.

"Yeah, I did…" Davis smiled a bit, but then he noticed… "Wait that was a Shadow Game?!" He cringed as he was surprised, but he shrugged. "Meh. Never mind."

While this happened, Karheim slowly stood up from where he fell and all of the Avengers stood guard for anything that might happen.

"You have done well, Avenger…" he said while holding his chest in pain. "But, this is just the beginning…"

"Aw c'mon already! We _already_ beat your ass!" Nova said annoyed.

"Then we'll just have to beat him again, Sam." Bart said.

"Hold, there is no need to be hostile. You have already passed your trial." Karheim said raising a hand as he now walked over to them slowly, but the Riders were still on their guards. "For you…" He said to Davis, as he pulled from his cloak, a glove with an eye styled like the ones in the Millennium Items.

"A glove?" Davis said while he took it.

"One other has come here and passed this trial. You will have to defeat that person to gain the other. When those gloves come together, it shall serve you well."

"Okay," Davis said as he put it on his right hand. It was a little bigger than his hand until, it shrunk to be able to fit. "Whoa…"

"Also, I have foreseen your future, Avenger." Karheim continued, gaining everyone's attention. "You are searching for someone, but there are obstacles that you have to face… I see a dark future ahead of you, even up to the point of fighting against one of your friends. But at the end of that dark future, a spark of light is waiting for you…" he said while looking at Davis with a serious glare.

"I… see…" Davis got out. "Well, I guess we're free to go."

"_You_ two are, but I am not sure about your other friends. If they have lost, then they will be buried." Karheim stated. Rachel and Davislooked at each other with worry.

"Then we better get going." Davis said.

"Very well, I shall send word to the Chief that you have passed your trial. Take care."

* * *

With that Davis, Rachel and the Avengers all the left the room and were on their way to where they first were. As they continued to walk though, Rachel stopped, making the others to stop as well and look at her. "Davis?" Rachel said.

"Yeah, what's up?" Davis asked. Rachel was a bit hesitant for a while until she got the nerve to come up to him and kiss him on the cheek making Davis blush.

"Thanks again for saving me…" She smiled gently.

"Uh… sure. No problem…" Davis got out.

A click was heard from behind as Davis turned around to see–

"I'm calling it… a Kodak Moment." Rikku smirked.

"Yare, yare… it seems like my apprentice is one step closer to finally becoming a man…" Felecia said it to him as the Avengers began to laugh a little about it about Kurogasa's awkwardness.

"Grrr… Rikku, give me that camera right now!" Davis growled as he went after her, only for Rikku to pass it to Felecia who ran away from him.

"You'll have to catch me first." Felecia teased. Rachel could only giggle seeing the usual antics between Davis and his Avenger friends. "I'm keeping it as proof!"

"Besides, you _did_ confess about it earlier." May teased along.

"It was the heat of the moment okay!" Davis yelled.

"Doesn't matter. You still confessed about it." Felecia said.

While this happened, from the door came Fred Fredburger.

"Davis, the nachos made my poo poo really stinky!"

"NOT NOW, FRED!"


	16. Chapter 16: Again with Narutaki

Chapter 16: Again with Narutaki

Davis, Rachel and the Avengers were walking and on their way back to the room where he and Jaden were first held in until they were taken to their designated dueling opponents. Most of the walk has been pretty quiet until Davis broke the silence. "You think Jaden is doing alright?" Davis asked Rachel.

"I _hope_ so...knowing Jaden, he'll be just fine…" Rachel told him.

"Yeah, you should know by now that kid _really_ enjoys dueling." Bart reminded him.

"Anyways, Davis, any idea of what purpose the glove serves?" Shannon asked him.

"And do you have any idea what that dude say to you earlier?" Cassie added.

"Not a clue." Davis shook his head. "Other than knowing the searching part, meant that I'm still looking for mom." He then looked at the glove on his right hand. "And I don't know what this glove does either."

Soon, they have found the room and all they ever did was wait, until Zubaan enters in with the rest of his friends… and some guards to accompany with after guarding the outside door. "ZuZuunn! (Davis, your friends have arrived!)…" Zubaan said as Jaden waves his hand happily.

"Davis! You're okay!" Jaden shouted as Syrus, Chumley and Professor Banner carrying Pharaoh rush to his side.

"I'm glad that that you and Jaden are all right. That and you managed to pass the test as well." Prof. Banner said with a smile on his face.

"And Jaden's duel was the most lishus duel ever! You guys would've seen it!" Chumley pointed out.

"But, what's with the guards?" Rikku asked.

"These guys are gonna lead us to our escape from this dimension!" Syrus told them.

"Yes, the Chief said we can escape this world by the gateway we entered earlier, thus the three suns aligned to each other and creating the beam, making it easy for us to go back home." Prof. Banner elaborates.

"Do we still have time?" Davis asked.

"Yes. The Chief has told us that, the three suns have to be at its highest in the sky before we can enter." Professor Banner explained further.

"Oh yeah, check this out." Jaden said holding up his medallion. "I got half of this."

"You too huh? Well, I got a glove." Davis said holding up his item.

"Wow, you _both_ got something out of this." Syrus stated.

"I know. Well right now, let's get out of here." Davis said.

"Yeah! Once we get back home, maybe I could get myself a grilled cheese before taking a nap." Chumley noted out before they were being escorted outside of the temple.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking away from the area and while the suns aren't aligned yet, they have finally arrived at the gateway… only to have a certain man blocking their way from the gate. "So, _this_ is where you've been… mommy's little boy…" Narutaki said with a smirk as the guards stand guard.

"Who are you and how did you manage to enter this sacred area?!" one of the Guards asked him as his simple reply was a snap of his finger and a volley of missiles, bullets and lasers hits them all, leaving only Davis and his friends stood up as the Beetle, the Powerpuff Princess (think of her as an evil, female version of Iron Man in purplish pink), and Sin walk next to Narutaki after delivering the attacks on them.

"Sin…" Shannon growled.

"Narutaki!" Davis shouted. "What are you doing here and how did you get here?"

"What do you think? I got sucked up here along with you people. I was hiding in the ruins waiting to make a move until I was brought here along with you. I knew waiting here long enough was a good idea. Now that you're here, I can take your Avengers."

"Geez, is there anything else you _can_ do? Look, he's already beatin' you, like twice, right?" Jaden pointed out.

"Yeah, just give him a break already!" Rachel shouted at him.

"As long as that boy has those cards, I will continue to hunt him down until I get what I want!" Narutaki said as he snaps his finger once again, to have brown armored people called Barioters rush out from the bushes and aims their guns point blank at Jaden and his friends and teacher.

"Seems like we're in trouble…" Prof. Banner states the obvious.

"A–And it doesn't seem like they're the friendly types…" Syrus said as one of the Barioters shot in front of Syrus's feet to tell him to back off. "EEK!"

"Davis, help us!" Rachel shouted at him.

"You guys!" Davis shouted as the Avengers wanted to help out, only to have the Dark Bartmen and the villians blocking their path.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, I wouldn't do that if I were you…" Strika taunted wagging his finger.

"You and I have an unsettled score to settle, brother..." Eternity told them while pointing her dagger to Bart.

"Grr… If that's the way you want it, then fine, I'll duel you. I win, we go free, if not, then I'll give the Deck to you." Davis growled.

Narutaki smirked as he looks on at Davis. "Very well… and to make things even more interesting, let's relive some of our good ol' memories that we had in both of our previous battles!" Narutaki said as the ground began to gush out black mists and it was getting bigger and bigger, until eventually, the whole place was pitch black until a light appears only to let Jaden and his friends see Davis and Narutaki have a standoff. "Come, my villians! Let's show this boy the TRUE meaning of darkness!" Narutaki shouted as the Barioters and most of his villians and Dark Bartmen jump back onto his palm, forming a Deck of his own.

"Avengers, assemble!" Davis said holding his hand up.

"Right!" The Avengers said in unison as they turned into cards and all went to Davis' Hand, placing his Deck into his Duel Disk.

"Boy, be prepared as I shall unleash and have you relive your worst nightmare!" he said while placing his deck onto his custom black duel disk. Both players then drew their starting Hands.

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

** omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

"DUEL!"

**Davis:** 4000

**Narutaki:** 4000

"Davis, go get him!" Rachel cheered from the side.

"Show him how you throw down those monsters of yours!" Jaden said.

"Ok! I'll start!" Davis drew his sixth card. "I summon Spider-Girl in ATK mode!" The web-slinging heroine appeared (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1250) "Then I'll place three facedowns and end my turn."

"Huh, now it's my turn…" he said as he draws out his next card. "First, I think that our little friend over there would like to meet someone that she misses… since I control no Monsters, I can special summon Barioter from my Hand!" A silhouette of a man appeared with a Barioter belt that has a phone already connected and just needs to be put down. "Let's ride!" The man then puts it down sideways.

**COMPLETE**

The man glowed and the Barioter appeared (3/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000). "Now I play Inferno Reckless Summon, since I Special Summoned a Barioter, I can Special Summon two more from my Deck." He took out his Deck and pulled out two more cards and summoned more Barioters. "Next I play Double Summon allowing me to summon normally twice, so I summon Bartman Psyga and Mayhem!"

Two silhouettes appeared. One, a man, opened up his phone and dialed: 315.

**STANDING BY**

"Let's ride!" The silhouetted man said and placed the phone sideways on his belt.

**COMPLETE**

Blue lines appeared over him and glowed brightly and when the lights faded, he was in his armored form.

The other, a woman, let out a screech before slimy tentacles came out of her as she starts transforming into her true form.

As both of them have finished their transformation, Davis can see both of the summoned villains on the field.

The first one has white bodysuit that is made from Luna Foam and his hard chest armor made from Luna Metal. The Photon Streams Version 2 that resembled blood streams appeared on his armor to generate the Photon Blood. The Psyga Core is mounted at the chest of his armor. On his helmet, he has a pair of antennas on top of his head with circular large eyepiece on its helmet. The Photon Terminals are on both of his gauntlet and his greaves. He took out a pair of Tonfa Edge from his sides and gets into the stance. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1000)

The second one was what seems to be a navy-ish colored version of Spidey with claws. This was Mayhem or April Parker, clone and former sister of Spider-Girl. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1400)

"Let the games begin!" Psyga announced.

"May..." April said hoarsely.

"Great, another Bartman…" Spidey growled then turned to Mayhem. When looking at the latter, she was a bit sad. "April…"

"Man, that monster means business!" Syrus said in a worried tone.

"Hah, it seems like both of them knew each other very well. Anyways, ready for Psyga's effect?" Narutaki said as the Bartman's aura began to rise. "Psyga's ATK increases by 200 for every Bartman on the Field, including himself and the Barioters because they count as Bartmen as well!" he explains before Psyga's Tonfa began to brighten up.

Bartman Psyga (4/ATK: 1500–2300/ DEF: 1000)

"May…" Mayhem said in a hoarse tone before she extends her claws and a mouth with razor-sharp teeth formed on her mask.

"…YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR BETRAYAL!" Mayhem shouted with all of her might as she charges, heading towards Spidey.

"Activate facedowns! Half Shut and Kunai with Chain!" Davis said revealing the Quick-Play Spell and the Trap. "Now Mayhem's ATK has been cut in half and May gets stronger by 500!"

Mayhem: (4/ATK: 1800–900/DEF: 1400)

Spider-Girl: (4/ATK: 1600–2100/DEF: 1250)

"April… I'm sorry…" Spider-Girl apologized in a sad tone as she counters with the Chain by launching it towards her, binding her as she is weakened. She then swings towards the symbiotic being and manages to attack with a powerful kick which it hits Mayhem right on the chest. Fortunately for her, the attack doesn't cause Mayhem to be destroyed in battle.

**Davis:** 4000

**Narutaki:** 2800

"Very clever… just in case because of your other facedown, I'll end my Battle Phase, set one card facedown and I will end it here…" Narutaki said as Mayhem slowly stands up from where she fell, manage to break free from the Chains, and grips on her chest, keeping its glare onto May.

"My turn!" Davis drew his next card. "I summon Bartman OOO in ATK mode!" The silhouette of a man appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. He took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. "Let's Ride!"

**HAWK! TIGER! GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!  
**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor. Becoming OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000). "And he gains 100 ATK for every monster on the Field and I count four!"

Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000–2700/DEF: 2000)

"But you forget Psyga also gets a power boost as well, since you have a Bartman on the Field now."

Bartman Psyga (4/ATK: 2300–2500/DEF: 1000)

"I'm well aware of that. Now Bart, attack Psyga!" Davis ordered.

"Got it!" Bart took out his Medal Scanner before swipes it onto his belt for a finisher.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

"Sorry, that won't happen anytime soon… I activate my facedown, Threatening Roar! None of your Monsters are allowed to attack mine!" he said with a smirk as the roar coming out from that card, causing Bart's finisher to be interrupted.

"Whoa! Davis, seems like he doesn't want me to attack them…" Bart told him.

"C'mon man, you can do this!" Jaden cheered for Davis.

"Don't let that creep do whatever he wants you to do!" Syrus added with Chumley nodding in agreement.

"We all believe in you, Davis!" Rachel cheered out as well.

"I place a facedown and I'll end my turn." Davis said.

"Now, time to deliver my pain to you!" Narutaki said as soon as he draws out the card. "First, I need to get two new card supplies, so Pot of Greed should do just fine…" he demonstrates as he draws out his next two cards. "OOO, you shall meet your match! I summon out Bartman Charybdis onto the Field!"

A silhouetted boy appeared with a belt that had three unknown Core Medals in the middle in a triangular position and a large spear in hand. "Let's Ride!"

**SHARK! WHALE! BARRACUDA!**

The spinning Core Medals appeared but unlike OOO's instead of going from top to bottom, the images went triangular, before going to the chest and water splashed around his armor appeared. As soon as the transformation is finished, they all could see that on his black bodysuit, he had a blue shark–themed helmet, with a sea–blue whale themed shoulder design and has a few markings on his hands and a red barracuda boots that has spikes all over its boot. He also wields a harpoon known as the Poseidon Spear which it serves as his primary weapon. It lets out a growl to get OOO's attention. (4/ATK: 1650/DEF: 1350)

"Oh wow! That's one slick Monster! I didn't know that even those Dark Batmen's design would look so cool!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Jaden, don't encourage them! You might jinx it!" Davis shouted at him.

"Brother…" Charybdis muttered under his breath.

"Oh no. It can't be...Jude?" Bart wondered in a concerned manner.

"Wana bet?" Davis asked.

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Charybdis roared with all of his might, causing this whole place to shake up.

"And let's not forget about my Psyga's ability… and your OOO…" Narutaki hissed at the last words as both of them are powering up to fight.

Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2700–2800/DEF: 2000)

Bartman Psyga (4/ATK: 2500–2700/DEF: 1000)

"Even with those large numbers of Bartmen, his Psyga isn't that stronger than Davis' OOO." Syrus added.

"Yeah, his Monsters aren't that strong!" Chumley taunted Narutaki but it didn't seem to faze him.

"Oh, I beg to differ about what you've said, young man, but I think my Monsters are still stronger than his…" Narutaki pointed out as he lunges his arm forward. "Now, my Psyga will attack your OOO!"

"Wait a minute; my Monster is still stronger than yours by 100!" Davis protested.

Narutaki could only wag his finger in disagreement as Psyga dashes forward. "No my Monster is still stronger… by 600! I play a Quick-Play Spell Card, Rush Recklessly! This card allows my Monster to gain an additional 700 ATK! Finish him off!"

Bartman Psyga: (4/ATK: 2700–3400/DEF: 1000)

Psyga appeared right in front of OOO and gave him a few slashes, causing the latter to stumble back for a moment before Psyga flips his phone open and pressed 'ENTER' to initiate the finisher.

**EXCEED CHARGE**

Both of his Photon Streams on his arms began to glow and 'download' the Photon Blood towards the Tonfas. He stabs OOO with ease, causing him to be destroyed in pixels before giving a downward slash towards Davis for the damage.

**Davis:** 3400

**Narutaki:** 2800

With that much Life Points lost, Davis wasn't fazed by the attack. "Still standing strong, eh? Fine! I set my last face down and end my turn!" he said before he sets the said card.

"Now it's my turn." Davis drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Davis drew two more. He smirked at what he got. "Time for them to go bye–bye, I play Rageki to destroy all of your Monsters!"

"What?! No!" Narutaki said in anger as a black thunder cloud appears right above Davis' head and all of Narutaki's monsters were destroyed, leaving Spider-Girl the only monster standing on the Field.

"And now that that's out of the way, I'll have Spider-Girl attack you directly! Go Spidey!"

"Time to make him pay! Because this goes out to my sister!" May claims as she swings the Chain towards Orpheus.

"You really think I'll let you hit me with everything that you have?! I activate my trap card, Draining Shield! Instead of losing my Life Points, I _gain_ them instead according to your monster's ATK!" A holy barrier appears right in front of Orpheus as the attacks that was supposed to injure him, healed him instead.

**Davis:** 3400

**Narutaki:** 4900

"Damn it! How dare that creep save himself from my attack!" May was furious about that matter.

"Don't worry, we'll get another chance. Now I set two facedowns and end my turn by summoning Wild Thing!" Davis declared as the feral mutant appeared (4/ATK:2100/DEF:1400).

"The tables have turned, hm? Fine! Let me show you how I'm going to make a comeback!" Narutaki said in anger as he draws out his next card. "I play Card of Sanctity! Now, both of us will draw cards until we have six!" Narutaki said as both of them do the same thing. "Next, I play Monster Reincarnation! I trade my Psyphon, in order to get my Barioter from the Graveyard!" Narutaki demonstrates as he sends his said Monster to the Graveyard and adds Barioter onto his Hand. "And let's not forget that my Field is empty, and I will let my Barioter to be Special Summoned onto the Field!" Barioter (3/ATK: 1000/ DEF: 1000)

"Why would he trade off a strong Monster for a weaker Monster?" Chumley asked.

"It's what they call strategy my friend." Rachel pointed out.

"And next, I can sacrifice my Barioter, in order to summon _this_!" Narutaki said as he shows Vilgax on his Hand.

"Wait a minute! He's only got _one_ Monster! That card needs _two_!"

"Oh, don't worry; my Barioter can also be considered as two tributes… ARISE, Vilgax!" Narutaki declared. A big alien with a octopus-like head appeared on the field, wielding a gigantic sword and eyes glaring at Davis and his monsters. (7/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2500)

"And he's not alone! I play Monster Reborn! With this card, I can Special Summon his servant, Psyphon, from my Graveyard!" Orpheus declared. Another alien, who is wearing all black and has a shark fin on his head, appeared next to Vilgax. (6/ATK: 2400/ DEF: 2400)

"Now we will destroy you once and for all, Avengers!" Psyphon claims.

"Especially Tennyson if he ever shows up…" Vilgax muttered under his breath while glaring down at Laura and May.

"Psyphon's effect activates. When summoned successfully, I can add one monster from my Graveyard to my Hand. And I choose Bartman Psyga." He did as instructed. "And now Vilgax, attack Spider-Girl!" Narutaki ordered.

Vilgax readies his sword and prepares his attack. "You may be not Tennyson, arachnid, but you will make a good practice for me should I ever face him!" Vilgax proclaims before charging towards her.

"Oh no! If that move hits, not only Davis would get hit, we take the pain as well!" Rachel pointed out, causing Davis took note as he flips open his trap card.

"I play my trap card, Covering Fire! During the Damage Step, when one of my monsters is selected as an attack target, I can transfer one of my other monster's ATK onto my Spider-Girl! Laura, help her out!"

"Come on Spidey! It's now or never!" Laura said as she unsheathes her claws and let out a loud growl while energy flows from her to May, empowering the latter.

Spider-Girl: (4/ATK: 2100–4200/DEF: 1250)

"Right, Laura! " May replied in agreement. She immediately takes the Chain and swung it at Vilgax's sword, wrapping around it and flew right out his hands before it hits the ground, disarming Vilgax.

"Burn in Hell, you pest!" Vilgax announced as he releases laser beams directly at May. His attack may have hit Spidey head-on but due to the sudden surge of power that Spidey receives, she easily breaks through the attack and counters with a kick onto his tentacled chin, which destroyed Vilgax in pixels.

**Davis:** 3400

**Narutaki:** 3900

"No! How can this be?!" Narutaki was furious about the matter as Spidey lands back to Davis' side and his friends are cheering for him.

"Alright! Way the go, Davis!" Jaden cheered. "If you didn't block that attack, I don't know what might happen to us!"

"Davis…" Rachel said with a smile on her face.

"Heh, no matter, I still have an attack left! Psyphon, deal with the mutant!" Narutaki commanded.

"With pleasure," Psyphon said as he went for Laura. Despite the energy blast from him, Laura still stand thanks to her special ability, but Davis still took some damage.

**Davis:** 3000

**Narutaki:** 3900

"Still standing? Despite some damage I gave you, you're getting on my nerves, boy! I set two cards face down and end my turn!" Narutaki said as he sets down the two cards.

"My turn!" Davis drew his next card. He looked to his opponent and said…

**"THIS IS IT!"**

Narutaki was shocked to hear it from Davis as his friends knew the battle was going to end. "Impossible! Not now!" He said in fear.

"I summon Ben 10 in ATK mode!" The Omnitrix-wielding hero appears (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500).

"Psyphon? It's been a while since I've kicked your sorry ass… ready for another beatdown?" Ben said it nonchalantly.

"You think this is over, Tennyson?! The only reason you were able to beat us villains is because of that cursed Omnitrix, for crying out loud!" Psyphon shouted at him.

"Yeah, so it is because of the Omnitrix, but not all of the times I've used it for my purpose or even rely on it, so your thought doesn't count anyways…" Ben counters his words while looking at Spidey and Laura, which they give him a nod of agreement.

"Enough! Will you just make your move already or what?!" Narutaki said impatiently.

"Sorry about that. Anyways, I activate his special ability which lets me send him back to my Deck ans Special Summon an Omnitrix monster to the Field! And I choose Armodrillo from my Deck!" At that point, Ben activated the Omnitrix and in a green flash, stood a creature that has a yellow-armored body and looks much like a robot. His head is similar to a Greek Corinthian helmet with a metal circle on top and two long ears on it giving him the appearance of an armadillo. He also has a gray tail, grey bolts with black markings on his shoulders, and jackhammer parts on his elbows, wrists and hands. The Omnitrix is on hs chest. (7/ATK: 2650/DEF: 2600)

"Lishus! That is some monster Davis got!" Chumley said happily.

"Yeah, I know! And this is one of the cards he got from Narutaki!" Rachel added.

"W–What?! You're seriously dare to us one of the cards that you won from me?!" Narutaki said in anger as Psyphon kept his guard up, in spite of knowing that this is one of Ben's powerhouse aliens.

"Oh yeah. That's right, but first I activate Megamorph on Decade and since my Life Points are lower than yours, Armodrillo's ATK doubles!"

Armodrillo (7/ATK: 2650–5300/DEF: 2600)

"Now I'll have Armodrillo attack Psyphon! Oh, and one more thing, Armodrillo is immune to Trap and card effects!"

"No!" Narutaki said as Armodrillo's right hand turned into a drill and used it to strike Psyphon on the chest before he dissolves within pixels.

**Davis:** 3000

**Narutaki:** 1100

The force of the impact makes Naruaki's clothes torn up a bit. "Yay, Davis! You hit him dead on!" Rachel cheered.

"And it looks like he's open for the kill! Go for it, Davis!" Jaden shouted at him.

"You got it! May! Laura! Go for it!" Davis shouted.

"I don't think so!" Narutaki declared before activating his trap card on his Field and the image shows a picture of an assortment of villains together. "I activate my trap card, Villains United! With this trap card, I'm allowed to Special Summon as many as DARK attribute monsters on the Field, just as long as I pay half of my Life Points! Looks like this isnt it at all!"

**Davis:** 3000

**Narutaki:** 550

"Arise from your graves, Vilgax and Psyphon! All in ATK Mode!" Two pairs of arms appeared on the ground and slowly they crawled their way out, causing both Spider-Girl and Wild Thing stopped in their tracks.

"Great, just when we thought we saw the last of them…" Spider-Girl said in an annoyed tone as Vilgax cracks his knuckles.

Vilgax (7/ATK: 3200/DEF: 2500)

Psyphon (6/ATK: 2400/DEF: 2400)

"Due to the effect of Psyphon, I can add monster from the Graveyard to my Hand and I add Charybdis to my Hand!" Narutaki said as he looks at Davis with a smirk. "Would you like to continue, boy?"

"I place two facedowns and end my turn!"

"And let's not forget that since mine is now lower than yours, your Armodrillo loses half of its ATK!"

Armodrillo (4/ATK: 5300–2650–1325/DEF: 2600)

"Davis, I blame you for this…" Ben said as he kneels down in his weaken state.

"My move now!" Narutaki draws out the card as he activates the set card. "I activate the next trap card, Preemptive Strike!" he declared as the image of the trap card shows Iron Man facing an insect themed warrior in the skies.

"Preemptive Strike?" Davis said in confusion.

"I don't like the sound of that…" Rachel said worried.

"Oh, you should be and you shall know about it in a few moments… and now, I shall declare my Vilgax to destroy your Armodrillo for good!" Vilgax readies his sword and leaped high into the air as he is about to strike Ben down in his weakened state.

"DIE, TENNYSON!" Vilgax shouted as he lunges downward with the attempt to kill his archnemisis for good.

"I activate the trap, Negate Attack! This stops your attack and ends the Battle Phase immediately!" Davis countered. The barrier appears right in front of Decade as Vilgax's attack was reflected back onto himself before he jumps back to his master's side.

"And with that, I end my turn…" he said with an anger tone.

"Thanks for saving my ass, I guess…" Ben said weakly.

"And then starts mine." Davis said as he drew his next card. He was a bit flabbergasted of what he got. _'This card… might do the trick.'_ He looked to his opponent and said "Now, for sure...

**THIS IS REALLY IT!"**

Narutaki was shocked to hear it from Davis as his friends knew the battle was going to end.… until Narutaki began to chuckle madly before getting his fact straight.

"Are you sure about this, boy? Just how in the world are you going to do that?! Look at my Field, look at yours! We are two different worlds and at this time, and with my monsters being more powerful than yours, I'm the most superior of them all!" Narutaki threatened Davis as Rachel began to get worried about the situation.

_'He's right… no matter how you look at it, it seems like Davis is at a disadvantage…'_ Rachel thought.

"Heh, maybe so, but with this card I drew, it won't matter. I sacrifice Armodrillo to summon Chromastone to the field!"

"What?!" everyone, including Narutaki, was shocked by this move, but somehow, Ben knew what he was trying to do.

"Well it's about time." Ben said while slowly stands up. "I haven't used him in a while." He pressed the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and in the same green flash, he transformed into an alien whose body was made of dark purple crystal with skinny arms and legs. He had a pair of pink crystal spikes jutting from his chest and several pink spikes on his back. His hands were also pink. His face was a pink plate that would open and close when he spoke light a real mouth and he had a single green eye. A pink horn jutted from his head. On his chest was the Omnitrix emblem. This was Chromastone (6/ATK: 2300/DEF: 1700).

"All right! It's hero time for sure!" Ben said as he looked at himself now he got the Megamorph off of him.

With one look at the new alien, Narutaki just smirked. "What a foolish boy you really are… don't you see his status? How are you supposed to beat me with a monster _weaker _than any of mine?!" Orpheus mocks him.

"It's simple. When he faces another monster, he gains ATK equal to the monster's level multiplied by 200!"

"Wh–What?! Impossible!" Narutaki stammered.

"Oh, it's possible alright. And now, Ben, let's finish this by giving Vilgax a payback for trying to attack you!" Davis said while Ben powers up.

Chromastone (6/ATK: 2300–3900/DEF: 1700)

"Here we go!" Ben said as he flew and shot a powerful, multi-colored beam from his hands right at Vilgax, destroying the evil alien in the process.

"Go for it, Davis!" All of his friends cheered as the blast went towards Narutaki, glowing radiantly as it hit its target, causing him to scream in pain while blasted off from the Shadow Realm. After the attack, Davis took a deep sigh before looking at the sky.

"Know your place…bitch."

**Davis:** 3000

**Narutaki:** 0

* * *

As soon as the battle finished, the Shadow Realm slowly broke apart and the Barioters lost their physical form, making the rest of the gang rush towards his side. Rachel was the first one to hug him.

"That was great, Davis!" Rachel said happily before she let go.

"Yeah, that was some game you pulled off!" Jaden said with his big grin of his.

"Yeah, who would've thought it?" Davis said as his Duel Disk turned off and he took his deck off and put it back into his pocket. Everyone then noticed Narutaki slowly getting up, clutching his chest in pain.

"You haven't seen the last of me, boy! I will obtain that Deck and destroy it for good. And I will do so NO MATTER WHAT!" Narutaki shouted in anger as the three suns have already aligned and the gate has already opened up for their escape.

"You better hurry! Time is running out!" One of the guards warned them as the group wanted to make it across, only to have Barioters shoot in front of their feet, making sure they don't make their escape.

"Enjoy your stay here, boy! I bet no one would miss you right after that! So stay there and let this world destroy you for good!" Narutaki said while laugh madly as he enters the portal, causing him to make his escape before the portal closed up as the suns are no longer aligned and the Barioters diminished right after that.

"No, no, no! Our only escape!" Davis complained.

"Does this mean… we're stuck here forever?!" Syrus began to get panic.

"Relax, you guys! I bet the next one won't take long to appear… right?" Jaden asked.

"I am sorry… but the next one will appear 100 years from now…" the guard told him, causing Jaden to get panic.

"100 YEARS?! I can't wait that long! How am I supposed to be the next King of Games if I'm stuck here?!"

Rachel looks at Davis with some concern feelings. "Isn't there a way to get out of here, Davis?" she asks him.

Davis shook his head, "Honestly, I don't know. It's not like any of the Avengers can create a portal for us."

Some of the Avengers nodded in agreement, however, Ben thought of something. "Well..there is one person I know who could help, but he only shows up when you least expect it."

"That is true, young Tennyson." someone said not too far from the group.

They looked over to their right, and saw someone standing near some rocks, smoking a pipe. He appeared to be a Caucasian man, thirties, with short black hair combed back, with a somewhat British heritage to him. He was dressed in what appeared to be a white button up shirt, khaki brown vest, black tie, black pants, and dress brown shoes. Though the odd thing about him was that he also wore a white lab coat, and a pair of green lab goggles. The man looked like somebody from the 1950s, the era during the Cold War. He casually sipped a cup of coffee he purchased from the food booths, as well as looking at an old pocket watch. With one look, Ben recognized the mysterious man.

"Professor Paradox! What are you doing here?! And now you look like yourself again when we first met." Ben noticed as he recalled an event in which Professor Paradox got serious and changed his outfit just for that occasion.

"Oh. my dear buy. I was just around looking at the sights and being a time/dimension traveler of sorts, I managed to see some interesting, yet private events, such as your Duels…" Professor Paradox explains as he looked at Jaden and Davis. "So I overheard that all of need a ride home?"

"You can do that?" Davis asked. "The portal doesn't open until another 100 years."

"I have done so many things, been to so many places in time and space, this, however..." Professor Paradox said as he pressed his pocket watch, which in turn opens up the silver portal that lets him travel through different timelines and dimensions. "...is how you say, 'a piece of cake'."

"That was easy." Jaden said.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go! That portal is our ticket home!" Rachel said happily.

"Well, we better not waste some time, then. We don't know how long that portal will hold…" Banner reminded everyone as the rest of them are heading towards the Doran.

"I–I just hope that portal doesn't eat us up…" Syrus said he kept his pace as close as possible to Jaden and Chumley.

"Don't worry, my friends. This portal will only close if I wanted to and it's perfectly safe. Now come on. We must not dilly-dally." The Professor said.

"Speaking of hungry, I'm still in a mood for grilled cheese even after all of this." Chumley pondered for a bit.

* * *

And so, after getting inside the portal, in which the latter led to something like the base of the Doctor, the Tardis , Davis and friends, and the Avengers all settled in. The only difference is that this base has lots of rooms, including a dining room where they had a huge dinner too. It was somewhat rowdy because of Bart and Luffy but Cassie took care of that and dinner was enjoyable.

As of right now, everyone was asleep. All but Davis though. He was in the library/living room of the Base sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace contemplating on the things that just happened. At that point, the door opened and Davis turned around to see Rachel coming towards him with a blanket wrapped around her. "Hey Davis…"

"Hey Rachel; couldn't sleep?" He asked.

"Yeah… because this is the first time I've rode a building that's actually moving and I'm still not used to it… mind if I sit next to you?" she asks.

"Be my guest." Davis said to which Rachel did. For a while, the two sat in comfortable silence over the fireplace. Both of them didn't say a word until Rachel spoke.

"How are you doing? " Rachel asked.

"I'm just fine. Why?"

"It's just… those Shadow Duels you had with Karheim and Narutaki, I never felt so scared in my entire life."

Davis was a bit surprised to hear that from her as he slowly looks at her, which her expression shows concern about it. "I get it." he said with a gentle tone at those last words, hinting that he understood what she was saying. Rachel slowly leaned her head onto his shoulders, surprising him for a bit. "Rachel?"

"Davis, whatever that you're going through, you don't have to carry the burden alone anymore. Everyone's here to share it… I'm here for you as well…" she said with a slight smile on her face, which made both of them blush slightly.

"Yeah… I know…" Davis smiled gently as he leaned his head on hers. Eventually, the both of them fell asleep. Unbeknownst to them, there was only one person who took a silent step towards the sleeping couple and a click was heard, but it wasn't loud enough for it to wake them up.

"Hehehe…this is so going in the scrapbook. This is even juicer than the time I was at that convention." Bart muttered quietly before leaving the two.

_(Cue Cutaway)_

_We cutaway to a Jonas Brothers convention where the Jonas Brothers are having a Q & A session with the audience members, which Bartman OOO was one of. He raised his hand and was called on by Kevin Jonas._

_"Uh, yes. I have a question for the guy on the left," Bart said pointing to the said person, which was Nick Jonas. "W-Where's your cigarette and heroin needle?"_

_"I'm sorry?" Nick asked in confusion.  
_

_"I mean, I know you're trying to get clean and all that, but I mean, you can't just stop altogether. That'll mess you up, dude. You should still at least take one needle everyday." Bart explained.  
_

_That's when Nick got the idea of what Bart meant. "What? Wha-oh for the love of-For the last time, we are not Ozzy Osbourne! Kevin Jonas is not Ozzy Osbourne! Joe Jonas is not Ozzy Osbourne! I am not Ozzy Osbourne!" Nick exclaimed.  
_

_"Uh, yes you are." Bart replied back.  
_

_"No they're not." The real Ozzy Osbourne said, standing up from the audience. "I am. And you know nothing of my work."_

_"Oh. Wait, I thought you were Slash without the hat."_

_"D'oh!"_

_(End Cutaway)_


	17. Chapter 17: The Sacred Beasts Rising!

Somewhere, in an unknown disclosed location dark, a group of shadow figures gathered around as a strange man's voice was heard… "Our enemies have been tested… our allies are in place… the hour is upon us!" The voice said. "It is time to cover the world in darkness and shadow! Which among you will lead us to battle?"

"I'll go master!" Another voice claimed, younger and arrogant.

"So will I…" The next voice spoke which was feminine and childish. The first voice heard, called them out by name.

"And me…" A third voice said whose sound feminine and had a hint of arrogance in her voice as well.

"Nightshroud…" This figure was a brown haired man, covered by a black dragon mask. He was dressed in black coat, shirt and pants. "Skull…" The next one was indeed a female dressed in an all-black cloak with a hood over her head and wore a skull necklace, but she was a lot shorter, probably an inch shorter than Syrus. "Xhemnas…" The last one had white hair with a high ponytail on back of her head. Her clothes was a mix of the Psychic Dressphere for Yuna from Final Fantasy X–2, except the colors seem to tribute Ansem, the Heartless of Xemhort from Kindgdom Hearts, which goes along with the seemingly familiar eyes and skin. "So be it…"

"We, the Slayer trio, will not fail!" Nightshroud boasted as he slipped on a Duel Academy duel disk.

"No duelist will beat us!" Skull spoke as she too slipped on one as well.

"And everything else will be ours!" Xhemnas grinned as she slipped on hers. As they left the secluded cave, another figure stepped in and watched them leave.

"Xainus… The voice spoke to the newcomer. This figure had a pale face with brown hair wearing a black trench coat and wore a shirt that had a grey color. "Should they fail… you know what to do…"

"Yes… death shall be their punishment…" Xainus said.

* * *

Thunder boomed and lightning flashed late one night as Chancellor Sheppard stood alone in his office, his lights turned off. He stood at the window, watching the rain roll down the glass as the wind blew fiercely. A flash of lightning came and there Sheppard saw something. He waited until the lightning flash again and then saw three dark objects flying across the sky, through the storm clouds. He frowned, placing his hands behind his back, eyes never leaving the sight, "And so it begins… The Fight… The War…"

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

** omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

Chapter 17: The Sacred Beasts Rising!

It's been a couple days since Davis and the gang came back from the Gravekeeper Dimension. While Professor Banner went on with his lecture about Alchemy, Davis was sitting there and he was in a grumpy mood. Why? Well… you'll see why.

_"What's wrong Davis? Still mad?"_ Bart snickered as he appeared.

_'Shut it, Bart.'_ Davis said angrily in his thoughts.

* * *

Flashback

_A couple of days back, Davis and the gang were at Professor Paradox's base, which did turn out to be another version of the Tardis called the Neo Tardis by the way, going back to their own world and it would be some time before they got back. Still traveling through dimension by dimension, Davis and Rachel were sleeping on the couch, lying down together. Davis' arm was over her waist, Rachel was cuddled up against him, and they were still sleeping peacefully. Unfortunately, this got the attention of almost everyone in the Neo Tardis, especially its owner, Professor Paradox.  
_

_"Well, well, well… I must say that he's really getting closer to becoming a man…" The Professor said while looking at the sleeping duo and smoking his pipe._

_"I know, right? Davis has been quite active these days…" Felecia added with a giggle as Jaden barges into the room which the door has left open already by the rest of them._

_"Hey guys! How's the–" Jaden's trap was shut by Humberto, as the remaining Avengers hushes him to keep quiet._

_"Amigo, I suggest you keep your voice down…" Humberto warned him, and he gulps down before nodding silently._

_"So uh… what's the occasion here?" Luffy asked, still not knowing what's going on.  
_

_"We're kinda witnessing the moment between the two at this time…" Racquel pointed out._

_"Zuu! Zuu! Baan Baan! Zubaan! (Davis is getting closer to the girl! Man, if he's happy, then I'm happy for him as well)!" Zubaan said before banging his chest and pointed his fist out to Jaden._

_"Zubaan, you're pointing at the wrong direction…" Kevin said before fixing the point from Jaden to Davis._

_"Uh, guys? You know… we're almost back home and someone should wake them up…" Gwen added._

_"So… who's gonna wake them up?" Maxine asked anyone, which for some reason; no one was willing to interrupt Davis' moment._

_"If you need someone to annoy him, I'll be the one…by the way, Rikku, I'm gonna need the camera for one last time." Bart said as he got the camera from Rikku and casually stepped forward and aimed the camera at the sleeping couple. And then…_

_*CLICK*_

_At that point, Davis started to stir. "Morning, sleepy head. How's your first night with your girl?" Bart teased the half-awaken Davis._

_"Huh?" Davis asked sleepily before noticing the Riders and the gang. He then looked down at Rachel, before his eyes widened. "AHHH!" He yelpt out getting her arm off of her and backing off._

_Rachel slowly woke up from her sleep due to Davis' surprise. "Davis, what's wrong?" she asked while rubbing her eyes._

_"Seems like you two were having a good night sleep. How does it feel to be with each other's embrace?" May asked them._

_"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Rachel asked them before she recollected from last night's event, which caused her to slightly blush for a bit._

_"How cute! Davis is all red on his face!" Felecia commented._

_"And not to mention his date as well…" Cassie giggled for a bit._

_"Hmmpf, I don't really care about this crap… if anybody needs me, I'm enjoyin' a cigar in the lobby!" Laura added before walking out from the room along with Cassie, Maxie, May, Rikku, and Humberto, leaving the rest of the Avengers silent for a bit… until they struck again._

_"Hey guys, let's sing a song for Davis and Rachel for having a sleepover together!" Felecia suggested which Bart and Kevin happily and the rest of the gang joins in the sing._

_"Davis and Rachel sitting in a tree!" they all sang in unison._

_"F–U–C–K–I–N–G!" Bart and Kevin finished before Gwen smacked the two guys. "You boys!" she yelled at them before giving Bart the nut shot with one of her pink energy balls.  
_

_"I–It's not like that! And we haven't done it!" Rachel denied for the moment, despite blushing madly after hearing them singing._

End Flashback

* * *

_'You're lucky that you're back in Spirit Form, otherwise, I'd even give you another nut shot, too.'_ Davis grumbled in his thoughts_._

_"Yeah, right. I survived being strangled and getting hit in my balls, so nothing else could hurt me. Also, you better thank me for not spreading your pictures to the rest of the Avengers or even making some profit out of it…...hmmm, actually that would've been a great idea of revenge"_ Bart chuckled a bit at that thought before he disappeared from his sight.

_'Bart, you dick…'_ Davis growled in his thoughts. At this point, the bell had rung signaling the end of class for the day. Jaden at this point, woke up from it.

"Awesome! Time to go!" Jaden cheered.

"To the next class?" Syrus asked.

"Nope, time to go eat lunch!" Jaden said as he pulled out some container carrying some fried food. "Oh yeah, the one subject I can't get enough of!"

"But it's 10 in the morning, Jay. Lunch isn't until later." Syrus pointed out.

"Not in his case, Syrus." Davis commented. "Anytime he feels like eating, he just go straight for the kill…" That's when Professor Banner intervened.

"Just a moment there, Jaden. I'm afraid your lunch will have to wait. It seems like Chancellor Sheppard wants a word with you." Professor Banner explained before shifting his attention to Davis as well. "Davis, you were being called out as well…" The whole class began to murmur regarding the matter. Some of them thought what did an Obelisk Blue like him get himself into this time? They were even surprised to see his clothes in bad shape for one thing.

"Jaden, I'll watch your lunch for ya', especially if you have grilled cheese in there." Chumley offered.

"Ha–ha! You wish!" Jaden replied back with his mouth occupied with a fried shrimp.

That was when Shannon appeared. _"Something tells me that you might face another trouble… like what that Karheim said before…"_

"I don't know…" Davis muttered.

"Jaden, what did you do?" Syrus murmured.

Shrugging, Jaden swallowed his bite. "I dunno. Maybe it's good news, like an award or something."

"Yeah right!" The small group turned to see Chazz rising from his seat. Chazz was still in his North Academy uniform. Chazz smirked, "It's _never_ good news when you go to Sheppard's office!" he pointed at Jaden and laughed, "You are so busted!"

"Actually, Chazz, he wants to see you too."

"He wha?!" Chazz snapped his head to Banner, eyes wide.

Banner nodded, "You heard me. He also wants to see some others as well." he scanned the different sections of his classroom. "Bastion, Rachel, and Alexis as well."

"Me? I wonder if something came up." Bastion mused.

"Eh? Why do I get involved as well?" Rachel said in surprise.

"Beats me…" Alexis shrugged.

"Oh boy, this doesn't sound good…" Jaden said after seeing the ones that has been called out looking at each other in suspicion.

"Could've been worse like working as a part-time assistant for Christian Bale." Davis said.

_(Cue Cutaway)_

**_A/N: The following is an audio file of Christian Bale's outburst during production of 'The Terminator Salvation'. (And a parody of the Family Guy episode 'Ocean's Three and a Half'. Viewer Discretion is advised._**

_**Bale: **I want you off the (bleep)ing set you prick!_

_**Davis:** Geez, I'm sorry._

_**Bale: **No, don't just be sorry. Think for one (bleep)ing second!_

_**Davis:** I dropped a M&M and it rolled over here._

_**Bale: **Am I gonna walk around and rip your (bleep)ing lights down in the middle of a scene?_

_**Davis: **Those are just some random lights. I just put them up to make everybody happy and the film better._

_**Bale:** Then why the (bleep) are you walking right through - uh, duh-duh, duh-duh, like this in the background? What the (bleep) is it with you?_

_**Davis:** Boy, you are gonna owe a fortune to the swear jar._

_**Bale: **You got any (bleep)ing idea about, "Hey, it's (bleep)ing distracting, having someone walking up behind Bryce in the middle of the (bleep)ing scene!" Gimme a (bleep)ing answer!_

_**Davis: **I-I don't get it. Seriously, I don't.  
_

_**Bale: **What don't you get about it?_

_**Davis: **I-I just-I don't get why we need another 'Terminator'. I just-I don't-I don't get it. Oh, and uh, by the way, sorry, I ate those cheese fries that you were saving for yourself._

_**Bale: **Oh good for you! And how was it?_

_**Davis: **It was good. May need a bit of mayo.  
_

_**Bale:** I hope it was (bleep)ing good because it's useless now, isn't it?_

_**Davis: **Well, it's nourishing me and filled me up, so that's...that's useful, I guess.  
_

_**Bale: **(bleep)'s sake, man, you amateur._

_**Davis:** I don't know what you mean._

_**Bale: **Stay off the (bleep)ing set, man. Right, let's go again._

_**Davis:** Can we just take a minute, please?_

_**Bale:** Let's not take a (bleep)ing minute, let's go again!_

_**Davis: **I gotta go pee, and I wanna walk around some more, but I wanna do it while the scene's going._

_**Bale:** You're unbelievable, man._

_**Davis:** You know, I just don't understand wh-_

_**Bale: **Ah, you don't (bleep)ing understand what it's like working with actors, that's what that is._

_**Davis: **I don't-I don't think that's what that is, honestly..._

_**Bale: **That's what that is, man, I'm telling you!_

_**Davis:** Hey, my mom's trying to come to town. Do you mind pretending that I'm the director?_

_**Bale:** I wanna (bleep)ing kick your ass if you don't shut up for a second, all right?_

_**Davis:** Whoa! Just calm down! What you forgot your meds, Mr. Bale?  
_

_**Bale: **I'm gonna go-You want me to go trash your (bleep)ing lights!? Do you want me to (bleep)ng trash 'em!?_

_**Davis:** Fine, whatever! (A-hole.)  
_

_**Bale: **You do it one more (bleep)ing time and I ain't walking on this set if you're still hired._

_**Davis:** Well, it's only just my first day._

_**Bale:** I'm (bleep)ing serious. You're a nice guy. You're a nice guy._

_**Davis:** Oh. Well, ok. You were awesome in that Batman movie.  
_

_**Bale:** But that don't (bleep)ing cut it when you're bull(bleep)ing and (bleep)ing around like this on set._

_**Davis:** Oh my god, you kiss your mother with that mouth?_

_**Bale: **Seriously man, you and me, we're (bleep)ing done professionally._

_**Davis:** Wait, just professionally? Uhhh...is it just me or are you trying to ask me out on a date?_

_**Bale:** (bleep)ing ass._

_(End Cutaway)_

* * *

After a while, the selected group of students was being escorted by Professor Banner as the students making their way for them while still murmuring among themselves. "Uh, we're not gonna make a run for it, Professor Banner. You don't have to escort us to Chancellor Sheppard's office." Jaden told him.

"Yeah, I mean, honestly, this isn't necessary…" Davis reminded him, which Professor Banner denies it.

"Yes, I do. You see, Chancellor Sheppard wants to see me as well…" he elaborated, making most of them understand the situation.

While making on their way, Rachel noticed where Davis was somehow being a little bit too quiet after returning back to Duel Academy. "Hey… are you okay?" she asked him in a worried tone.

"Huh? Oh… I'm fine…" Davis hesitantly answered.

Rachel couldn't help but feel worried over Davis' silence as she kept close the distance between them to comfort him. "If what that Gravekeeper said bothers you a bit, you don't have to worry. You still got us to overcome it, okay?"

"Yeah, you're right…" Davis smiled slightly. The group soon reaches the doors of the Chancellor's office and coming from the opposite direction were Zane and Dr. Crowler.

"Hm? Well, well! Look at this group of conversational students! Some of the best duelists in the school, I see. Even the Tag Team Champions are in here as well!" Professor Crowler praised them before he shifted his attention to Jaden.

"Uh oh! Which one of these is not like the others? _Clearly_, someone here seems a bit lost." Crowler stated.

"No, he's not! Chazz was invited!" Jaden said, annoying the said person in question for a moment.

"He means _you_, slacker!" Chazz snapped.

"Way the go putting the blame on others, Jaden…" Davis added with a facepalm.

The group of nine soon entered Sheppard's office and stood there for what seemed like hours as the Chancellor explained to him why they were there.

"The three Sacred what cards?" Jaden asked.

"Beasts," Sheppard turned away from the window and looked at him, "and due to their colossal power, their intense might, they were hidden here,"

"Sweet…" Jaden looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Like under someone mattress or in a cookie jar?"

"Let him finish!" Chazz hissed.

"They're _not_ in a cookie jar," Sheppard continued, "They're actually much closer than you'd ever think." he pointed down, "Right below you…" The group of eleven murmured and looked at their feet. "You see, Duel Academy was built in part to _protect_ these cards. They were buried deep underground, their power sealed safely away. After all, legend has it that if these cards ever see the light of day…" Sheppard put his hands behind his back and his face became more solemn, "Terrible things will happen. Buildings will crumble, light will fade, souls will fall! Our world will be no more!" Rachel gulps down while subconsciously grabbing Davis' hand, which the others (except Alexis who kept quiet about it) didn't notice it at all as they were still shocked to hear from Chancellor's words.

"No more?" Bastion was shocked to hear it.

"Aren't you overreacting a bit, Chancellor?" Davis added.

"Hm…" Chazz ponders for a bit.

On the other hand, Jaden wasn't worried at all… he's actually pumped up for some action. "So, where are these cards? I say we take 'em out for a spin!" Jaden suggested, only getting a whack at the back of the head, courtesy of Koji. "Hey, what was that for?!"

"DIDN'T YOU EVEN HEAR WHAT CHANCELLOR SHEPPARD JUST SAID?!" Crowler shouted at Jaden, surprising him for a bit. "THOSE CARDS CAN NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!"

"You _really_ need to pay attention to what other says, Jaden, or else, you might end up getting trouble yourself…" Davis reminded him.

"And so, that is the reason why eight of you are here; to protect these three cards from the wicked ones!" Sheppard explains, gaining the attention from some of the duelists.

"The wicked ones?" Zane asked while raising his eyebrow.

"You mean, like bad guys?" Rachel asked.

"That's right. Eleven duelists known as the Shadow Riders have come for these cards. And I'm afraid that three of them are already here…" Sheppard told them. "They arrived during last night's storm."

"Of course, the villain's most used cliché." Bastion deadpanned rolling his eyes.

"Ok, so how do we protect these cards?" Alexis asked.

Sheppard brought out a small black box. "By protecting the Spirit Gates; to get to the cards, one must unlock them, and to unlock them, one must gain the eleven keys that are needed for each gate. That is how we will protect these cards, by protecting the keys and the gates… and here they are." Everyone watched as Sheppard opened the box. Inside, within the lined interior, were eleven golden oddly shaped keys. "One for each of you students to guard and two for Dr. Crowler and Professor Banner to do the same."

Bastion looked at them, "Wait. If we hold the keys, won't that make us targets for these Shadow Riders?"

Sheppard nodded, "It's true. With these keys, the Shadow Riders will seek you out."

"Uh, seek us out?" Chazz blinked, "You mean _take_ us out!"

"Only in a duel," Sheppard went on, "Fortunately for our side, the keys can't be simply stolen. An ancient edict commands that the keys are to be won in a duel. So, I've called upon our schools eleven best to take up this challenge and fight the good fight!" he cleared his throat as he looked at them all, mainly Crowler and Banner, "Well, seven best, so… you know."

Crowler leaned into Jaden's view, "He _certainly_ doesn't mean _me_!" He hissed.

"Of course, if any of you think that you aren't up to it, and feel like backing out, I won't blame you. After all, these Shadow Riders play for keeps. So…" Sheppard pushed the box of keys outward to the group, "Who feels like saving the world?" Everyone looked at each other. This was big. They could get themselves hurt in this, but then again, this is their chance to save the world.

Jaden grinned and snatched a straight key that also had a string around it, "Count me in!" he laughed as he placed it around his neck, "How about that, it's just my size!"

Hearing him, Zane couldn't help but smile. He reached and grabbed a key, "I too, accept."

Bastion nodded and reached for another, "It'd be my honor."

Chazz just grunted as he snatched his key.

"I don't want you boys having all the fun," Rachel said jokingly as she took a key.

"I hear you on that." Alexis said and grabbed a key.

"How can I refuse? After all," Crowler wagged a finger, smiling, "Our very world is at stake! Our way of life, the future of our school, oh that remind me, you still have my Deck, since I'm still on probation."

"Yes, yes, you'll be getting it back." Sheppard said.

"Well then, if they're in, I'm in as well," Banner walked over and claimed the final key for his own. He held it up, looking at it as Pharaoh mewled and pawed at it.

"Davis?" Rachel asked as everyone looked to him. He stood there for a while. But then… he scoffed smiling gently as he stepped forward to grab the last key.

"I'm in. Always wanted to save the world." Davis said.

"Well, in the meantime, let's get started on this thing! I think the best duelist should go first… and that would mean… well, me!" Jaden suggested himself before getting another shout by Crowler.

"You?! You couldn't beat a drum!" Crowler denied, surprising Jaden for a moment.

"But I'm the World Heavyweight Champion of Dueling!" Jaden reminded him, which Crowler totally ignored, even though he doesn't want to admit it.

"So, who are you suggesting to go first?" Rachel asked.

"Obviously, _I_ should go first!" Crowler suggested.

"Ah, forget you. I'm clearly the best choice!" Chazz made a remark.

"Yeah, right. Last time I heard, you got defeated by Jaden at the finals…" Rachel teased him.

"This isn't about who gets to go first!" Sheppard yelled causing some of them to jump. "THIS! IS! WAR!"

"A war?" Davis raised his eyebrow.

"You could be attacked by your enemy at any time and any place! So, my students, be on your guard at all costs!" Sheppard warned them as all of them understood the whole situation that they're in.

"Well, it's time to see whether we do have what it takes to take these guys down…" Davis added. "Hope it beats what to me back at Domino City's bank.

_(Cue Cutaway)_

_We cut to the Domino City bank where a guy in a black mask is holding up the cashiers for their money. The guy, strangely though, was only about 3 ft tall._

_"Listen up, people! All I want is the freakin' money! Give me the cash, or I'll shoot! I ain't kidding, this is the real deal!" He held up the gun to the ceiling and pulled the trigger once to show everyone that he wasn't fooling around. This freaked everyone out as they all started running around._

_The cashier handed the robber the money back as he took it and ran out the door. But he didn't get too far before he was stopped by Davis, who was about a couple of years younger back then and an inch shorter-ish. _

___"Hey, punk! Go pick on someone your own size!" He yelled_ as he put his hand out to stop the robber. "You go return that money, man! It's not yours!"

_"Go to hell, you oversized douchebag!" The robber yelled as he kicked Davis in his nuts, which caused him to fall down in sheer pain as the bank robber ran away._

_"ssssshhhhh...ahhhhhh...ssshhhh...aahhhh...sssshhh h...aaaahhhh...sssshhhhh...aaaahhhhhhh..." was all he said, suffering from the pain that troubles all of mankind, if you get my drift.  
_

_(End Cutaway)_

* * *

At his room, as Davis ponders for a bit about the key he held, followed by the glove, some of the Avengers appeared next to him. _"Are you sure you want to do this head on, Davis?"_ Cassie asked him. _"You might get yourself injured again."_

_"Yeah, who knows? Maybe that Narutaki might appear in that duel again…"_ Maxine added.

"I'm sure of it guys." Davis nodded. "I've been in a Shadow Duel like twice and I came out just fine thanks to you guys."

_"Well… true…"_ Bart admitted. _"After all, if it weren't for us, you wouldn't be here right now."_

Just then,Davis' glove glowed. "What the–!" Davis gasped.

_"Huh. This is interesting…"_ Rikku said as she analyzed was then May sensed something from the outside.

_"Davisa, I think someone's watching you…"_ May told him.

_"Really? I can't sniff the rat out at all…"_ Laura said in gruff tone. Davis then went outside to the terrace balcony and saw the glow… coming from the Girls' Dorm?!

_"Doesn't those particular rooms belong to Rachel?"_ Shannon pondered for a bit. Having her name being said made Davis rush out from his room in an instant and head straight towards his destination. Despite him entering the building, nobody seemed to notice him due to the light that surrounded the whole building. What's more, most of the students and teachers are asleep at this time.

_"I know this is a bad time to say this, but shouldn't you let Rachel deal with this matter?"_ Racquel suggested.

_"Are you kidding me? Rachel is in trouble and Davis is her knight in shining armor!"_ Felecia told him as Kurogasa opens the door and finds… Alexis?

"Davis? What are you doing here? Don't you know this is the Girl's Dorm?!" she asked.

_"What are_ you_ doing here?"_ Felecia replied.

"Well, I was about to discuss something with Rachel, but I found out that she's isn't here…" Alexis xplained.

"Dammit, no!" Davis panicked. All of the sudden, a male laugh was heard throughout the room, gaining the attention of both of the duelists and in an instant, both of them are teleported to somewhere… right above a volcano of molten lava?! To his surprise, Rachel was there as well.

"Davis? Alexis?" she asked in confusion.

"Rachel?!" Alexis was surprised to see her at this time. "What's going on around here?!"

"The first duel is about to happen! _That's_ what!" A voice called out. An echo was heard around the area before a flaming dragon bursts out from the lava, circles around the light area.

"Alright, whoever you are, show yourself!" Davis demanded.

"I just hope this is a dream…" Rachel shivered.

"Or a nightmare…" Alexis added.

"It's neither!" the flaming dragon spoke before lands on the light surface, causing the flaming inferno to appear on it before a figure of a man in black suit and wearing a mask walks casually from the other side of the light surface before he starts to chuckled madly.

"I just hope it's all just for show…" Rachel added.

"Oh, believe me! This is just the beginning!" the figure told her.

"Who are you?!" Davis demanded.

"Oh me? You can call me Nightshroud!" he declared.

"Nightshroud? What a weird name, if you ask me…" Rachel added.

"If you really must know, the key you are having around your neck at this time is something that I am after!" Nightshroud told him.

"I must say these guys sure know something about time convenience…" Rachel said with a sweat drop but somehow, Alexis seems tense as the figure in front of her reminds her of someone she knew. As both of them are face–to–face with each other, both of the gloves that are wielded by Davis and Nightshroud shone brightly, gaining his attention.

"Oh? Another glove? Don't tell me you got that from Karheim did ya? They must've gotten sloppy…" he mocked as he crosses his arms. "But, if you think you can beat me like you beat him, you got another thing coming! I'll get that key _and_ the gloves in your possession and I want it now."

"Davis, he must be one of those Shadow Riders…" Alexis pointed out.

"Yeah…" Davis said.

"So let's make this more interesting shall we?" Nightshroud said. With a wave of his hand, Rachel was suddenly floating up in the air with her crying out in dismay and flew over to the top of a pillar of rock that's dangerously close to the lava and was next surrounded by a clear barrier.

"Rachel!" Davis shouted.

"Hey, let her go!" Alexis shouted at him.

"Oh? You wanna join her? Fine by me, since I was aiming for you first…" he added as Alexis was floating up in the air and joins Rachel in it.

"Alexis!" Davis shouted.

"It looks like both of the girls are in hot water… should I say in hot molten lava?" Nightshroud joked about it.

"Hey, what's your beef?! Why do you have to do this to us?!" Rachel angrily asked.

"It's the nature of such a Shadow Game, don't you agree… Avenger?" Nightshroud pointed out with a big smirk on his face.

"Grrrr…" Davis growled.

_"Calm down, Davis."_ Maxine said as she appeared. _"He won't get away with it, but don't let your anger cloud your judgment."_

"Oh, I know you, for sure. You see, there's this one guy who is said to be your worst nightmare and he has told me everything about you! What's the best way to do so by threatening your new friend AND your girlfriend from the info I received from him?" Nightshroud explains with a slight chuckle.

"What?!" Davis gasped. _'That could only mean– How the heck does_ he _know Narutaki?!'_ He thought furiously.

Nightshroud shrugs over the matter before continue on speaking, "You see, I need at least one of your friends on a speedy match! After all, that protection they're in… heh, let's just say it's not exactly fireproof and build to last…"

"What?!" Rachel was shocked about it as she took a step back after seeing a flaming dragon just passed right in front of her.

"So then… our life is on the line?" Alexis said in a worried tone.

"Bingo! And oh, I'm afraid there's more too!" Nightshroud said as he took out a blank card with black background from his jacket and shows it to Davis. "For you see, there's another thing at stake; it's your soul! It will be sealed in this card when you lose. Of course, if I lose, then my soul would be sealed inside. But hey, let's be honest with ourselves… me, lose? No way!" Nightshroud said with a smirk on his face. "Now then… what would you say, Avenger? Shall we?"

"Davis, don't do it!" Rachel shouted at him as she taps onto the protective sphere.

_'Damn it… what do I do?'_ Davis cringed. "All right, I'll do it and I'll make this quick."

"Oh, this I got to see!" Nightshroud chuckles for a bit before he set his glare onto Davis. "Let's make our first battle commence!" he declared before placing his Deck onto his duel disk.

"Right… let's do this then!" Davis said inserting the Deck into his duel disk and it went from standby to active. Both players then drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Nightshroud:** 4000

**Davis:** 4000

"You want to do this? Fine, how's this?!" Nightshroud declared as he draws his sixth card. "I'm calling Troop Dragon and I'll have it to defend me!" A portal opens as a green dragon appears while kneeling down with its sword and shield in hand as it is fully equipped in its leather armor. (2/ATK: 700/DEF: 800) "Plus, I play a face down while I'm at it! Now it's your move, Avenger!" Nightshroud told him as he ended his turn.

"My turn!" Davis drew his sixth card. "I summon Ben 10 in ATK mode!" The said monster appeared, ready for battle (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1500). _"Ready when you are, Davis."_

"Now I'll activate his special ability of sending him back to my Deck in order to summon an Omnitrix monster from my Hand or Deck and I choose Snare-oh!"  
Activating the Omnitrix, Ben was engulfed in the green flash before it revealed a mummy-like alien wearing a black head-dress with two glowing green gaps on either side of it, and a gold rimming at the bottom. His green eyes are surrounded by crown-like golden spikes, his lower face is wrapped in bandages, and his chin is black with more green gaps on it, and a golden beard-like spine jutting from it. His bandages are ragged, as well as a lot layers being visible, and being greyish-brown in color. His upper chest and shoulders are covered by a large collar/wrap-like garment with green and black stripes. He has black-and-gold pads on each shoulder, each one have a green "eye" on them. The tendrils on his back are very short. In the middle of his "skirt" was a single bandage. His braces and greaves have gold rimmings and each have two, large green gaps on them. The Omnitrix symbol is on a green-and-white belt around his waist. (4/ATK: 1750/DEF: 200)

"Now I'll activate his special ability of stealing a facedown Spell or Trap that's on your Field. Snare-oh, bring it over here!"

_"I got this all covered, Davis. This is a piece of cake…_" Ben said before he brings out one of his bandages and sends it towards his target.

"Not going to happen! I activate my face down, Raigeki Break! By sending away another Troop Dragon from my Hand, I can destroy your Monster!" He declared as a random thunder literally crashes down onto Snare-oh, destroying him into pixels. "Too bad for your mummy!" Nightshroud mocked at Davis.

"Grr… fine then. I'll play Double Summon to summon once more and summon Rook Blonko in ATK mode!" The catlike alien appeared and took out his Proto-Tool which he turned it into Gun mode. (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1150) He then looked up to see Rachel and Alexis. _"Oh, my! What happened?!"_ He said as he was shocked by this.

"Blame that guy in the black suit for trapping them here in the first place!" Davis said.

"Davis, don't you worry about us for now! We'll be alright! Just focus on your duel!" Alexis told him.

_"Alexis is right, Davis! For now, we must deal with this Shadow Rider!"_ Rook said, glaring at Nightshroud.

"With pleasure! By the way, since you destroyed my Snare-oh, Ben 10 comes back to the Field!"

"What?!" Nightshroud gasped. The teen suddenly came back.

"_Ready, partner?"_ Ben asks Rook, who replied with a nod.

"Now go guys, attack Nightshroud!"

_"You got it!"_ Ben then found a rock next to him. _"Well, guess it'll do since I'm not in alien form." _He picked it up and threw it hard at the Troop Dragon, who was unaware and got caught in the lava.

_"Rook, your turn!"_ Ben said to his one-time partner.

_"On it." _Rook's gun began to charge up to its full power until he aims his gun at Nightshroud before pulling the trigger, hitting him directly at the chest as Nightshroud stumbles back for a bit before he stood tall.

**Nightshroud:** 2300

**Davis:** 4000

"Heh, that ain't much, but nice move, though…" Nightshroud said before he patted off the dust from his shoulder. "Got more?"

"I'll place a facedown and end my turn." Davis said placing a reverse card on the Field.

"Fine then… I'll make my move!" Nightshroud said as he draws out his next card. "Heh, this would be interesting…" he said with a smirk before he plays a card onto the field. "I play my spell card, Monster Reborn! With this card, I'm allowed to Special Summon a Monster from either Graveyard and then Special Summon it onto my Field! And guess what? I'll be summoning forth _your_ Snare-oh onto my Field!" Nightshroud declared before a portal opens up, making the mummy landing on his feet, in total silence. "And now, I activate _your _Monster's effect! I can grab hold of your set card and landed onto my side of the Field! Go get it for me!" Nightshroud declared as Snare-oh reels onto Davis' set card.

"Aw, crap…" Davis muttered.

"Now that I have control of your trap card, I shall deliver _my_ alien to attack _your_ Ben 10!" he said as the mummy wrap his bandages around Ben before sending him into the lava.

**Nightshroud:** 2300

**Davis:** 3850

"Ben!" Davis shouted as the splash of lava got on his leg , leaving a burn mark on the right side of his pants. "AHHHH!" Davis yelled as he clutched his right leg in pain.

"Davis!" both Alexis and Rachel shouted in unison as the girls are worried for him while Nightshroud just laughs his way before he settles down.

"What's the matter? Can't handle the heat?" he ponders for a bit before he shakes it off and took another card. "Since I haven't Normal Summoned any Monsters on the Field, I'll play Double Summon by summoning a third Troop Dragon and then sacrifice both of your Snare-oh and my Troop Dragon, in order to Tribute Summon… Red Eyes Black Dragon in ATK mode!" Both of the Monsters (with the former that just appeared) on his side of the Field were molded into one as it began to take form. What came next surprised them as the black dragon flaps out its wings before gives out a threatening roar onto Davis. (7/ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000)

"No way?! Red Eyes Black Dragon?! I thought only Joey Wheeler has that card!" Rachel exclaimed.

"I set a card face down and end my turn. I want to see you make miracles, just like he said…" Nightshroud warned him as his dragon yells out another roar.

"You want a miracle? I'll give you one! Draw!" Davis drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards!" Davis drew two. "Next, I activate Rook Blonko's special ability to destroy my facedown!" Rook aimed his gun and destroyed the facedown, which was Negate Attack. "Now I summon Rocket in ATK mode!" The airborne tech Avenger appeared (4/ATK: 1550/DEF: 1400).

"Now I'll equip Rook with a Union monster of my own, Zubaan!" Davis declared as he played the card depicting the strange golden warrior. "When equipped to Zubaan, my Rook gains 1000 ATK and DEF points and is immune to Spell cards!" The card played glowed and the same warrior came out of the card before morphing into its Sword Mode. Rook then grabs the Sword, empowering the Plumber.

Rook Blonko (4/ATK: 1700–2700/DEF: 1150)

"Now that he's strong enough, Rook is gonna attack Red Eyes with Zubaan Double Break!" Davis ordered.

_"You got it."_ Rook agreed as he changed his Proto-Tool to Sword Mode and began to dash forward. _"Zubaan Double Break!"_ he declared as he landed a huge blow onto Red Eyes Black Dragon… or maybe not.**  
**

"How foolish! Do you really think I would let it happen? I activate my trap card, Waboku! No Monsters can be destroyed and no Damage can be passed onto me!" Nightshroud laughs at Davis' attempt as the holy barrier appeared, stopping their attack with ease.

_"Oh, dear. This Nightshroud is quite skilled."_ Rook admitted.

_"I'll say." _Racquel said in agreement.

"Then I'll activate my last card, Card of Sanctity, letting us both draw until we have six cards and end my turn." Davis and Nightshroud both drew until they had six. Also, their stats returned to normal.

"How does it feel for not letting the attack passed through? Oh, you better be prepared, because the _true_ pain is about to begin!" Nightshroud said as he draws out his seventh card. "Just because you have a stronger Monster than mine, that doesn't mean you are save from getting burned!"

"Oh boy… I got a bad feeling about this…" Rachel gulped.

"In this turn, I might not be able to attack you, but with this nifty card, I can deliver it _directly_ at _you_! I activate Inferno Fire Blast from my Hand!" As he placed the said card onto the field, Red Eyes Black Dragon gathers its black flame and spewed it all at once towards Davis, burning him up in the process due to Shadow Duel.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"DAVIS!" both of the girls shouted at him

**Nightshroud:** 2300

**Davis:** 1450

By now smoke came from Davis, his blue blazer was already burnt and tattered and Davis was having a hard time breathing and staying up. "Davis! Don't give up!" Rachel shouted at him as when she tried to touch the orb, all of the sudden, the orb starts to break down and Alexis manages to pull her in on cue as it has already loss half of it.

"That was a close save! For a second there, I thought you would fall to your demise…" Alexis sighed in relief before shifting her attention back at the wounded Davis.

"What's the matter? Can't hold on much longer? You don't have to worry about that, I'll just deliver the last attack on you later on and trap your soul in this card for good. And as an added bonus, not only I get all of your items, but also get to see your friends burned alive as well!" Nightshroud shouted before laughs madly as he took out a card. "I guess I should set a Monster and another facedown and end my turn…" he added.

_"Davis! Are you okay?!"_ Rook asked as he rushed to his side while trying to help him to stand up properly. _"The battle isn't over yet! We know you can win this and save your friends!"_

"Hah… hah… hah… my turn…" Davis panted drawing his seventh card. "I summon Monkey D. Luffy in ATK mode!" The Gum Gum Avenger appeared next to Rook. (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1800).

_"Hey, why are we on top of a volcano?"_ Luffy asked.

_"You may want to ask our_ friend _here, Luffy._" Rocket pointed towards Nightshroud.

_"Ok. Hey mister! Do you know why are we on top of a volcano?!" _Luffy shouted at Nightshroud. This cause everyone else except Nightshroud to facepalm his stupidity.

"Wow, you _must_ have some kind of problem, you know that?" Nightshroud noticed about Luffy.

_"Like what?"_ Luffy wondered about the matter.

"Never mind that, Luffy. Now I'll have him attack your facedown!"

"What?!" Nightshroud growled.

Luffy got into a battle stance and leaped real high.

**GUM GUM...PENDULUM KICK!**

When Luffy's kick descends down on a rapid speed, it was delivered directly on the card, causing it to be destroyed in pieces.

"Hmph, there goes my Spear Dragon…" he said with a calm tone before sending the said card to the graveyard. "At least your Monsters are interesting, but that would still lead you to nowhere!" he reminded him.

"Ugh… now I'm starting to feel a little bit hot…" Rachel said as she started to sweat a lot due to the heat of the lava and the protective sphere was not getting safer.

"But even so, Davis' life is still on the line… and ours." Alexis reminded her.

Davis lunges his arm forward. "Now that I destroyed your set Monster, my Rook would go destroy your Red Eyes Black Dragon!" Davis commanded as Rook charged at the dragon with both swords in his hands.

_"Now there is no escape this time, dragon! Zubaan Double Break!"_ Rook announced as he leaps high and manages to deliver two big slashes and this time, the dragon didn't stay long and explodes into pixels, delivering damage onto Nightshroud.

**Nightshroud:** 2000

**Davis:** 1450

"You finally manage to destroy my Monster… but too bad, this one is quite stubborn to leave the area just yet! I play my face down, Call of the Haunted, to revive my Red Eyes Black Dragon from the grave once again!" he declared as a stream of flaming dragon arises from the molten lava, surprised the girls for a moment before it flew towards the direction of Nightshroud's Field and spreads its dark wing before letting out a roar. (7/ATK: 2400/ DEF: 2000)

_"Aw, man! Just when we thought we were seeing the last of that guy!"_ Rocket grunted.

_"You're not the only one. This dragon really is becoming an annoyance, especially to me."_ Rook said.

"Now I'll place two facedowns and end my turn." Davis concluded placing the reversed on the Field. "Ergh!" He cringed clutching his chest.

_"Oh no! Davis! This isn't the time for you to fall just yet!"_ Rook warned him.

_"Yeah, because it seems like you're being overwhelmed at this point…"_ Rocket said nonchalantly.

"Tell me, Avenger! Does that feel good? Does that relive your worst nightmare?" Nightshroud mocked him as he draws out the next card and his smirk is just getting bigger. "You really think this is just some game? I haven't even begun to play…"

"Davis, save us!" Rachel shouted as the protective orb is losing its durability as it began to crack some more and they began to back off from it.

"Listen to that scream, Avenger! That's the sound of your failure once your soul would be sealed within the card! And I shall be the one that will lead your doom!" Nightshroud stated as his dragon began to evolve once again. "I can sacrifice my Red Eyes Black Dragon in order to Special Summon Red Eyes Darkness Dragon!" As soon as he has declared it, the figure was much larger than the last one, even the red lines can be seen clearly and as for its ATK points…

Red Eyes Darkness Dragon: (9/ATK: 2400/ DEF: 2000)

_"_That's_ the one that will lead him to his doom? I believe he has faced worse than this…"_ Rook said, which leads Nightshroud chuckles for a moment.

"Oh, this will lead him to his doom alright… with its effect! For every dragon in the graveyard, it gains 300 ATK for each of them and last time I check, there are three of them!"

Red Eyes Darkness Dragon: (9/ATK: 2400–3300/DEF: 2000)

"Now go! Destroy his monster with Inferno Chaos Blast and end his miserable life!" he declared as the dragon charges up its fireball before unleashing it towards Rook.

"DAVIS!" Rachel shouted out of her lungs, afraid of seeing Davis getting himself killed by the fireball.

"I activate Rocket's special ability!" Davis countered as Rocket creates a force field around Rook. "Once per turn, she can negate the ATK and restores my Life Points equal to the current ATK of your dragon!"

"What?!" Nightshroud was taken aback from the trap card as the black fireball hits Racquel's force field and changed into white healing mist, recovering most of the wounds on Davis and at the same time, the protective shield was somehow manages to cool the girls down.

**Davis:** 4750

**Nightshroud:** 2000

"I'm not going to give you any chances! I set three cards face down and end my turn!" he said as three set cards appeared on the Field.

"Thank goodness he's alright…" Rachel sighed in relief.

"Yeah, not to mention this sphere cooled back down…" Alexis added. "C'mon, Davis! You can do it!"

"Draw!" Davis drew his card. "I activate the Equip Spell Card Megamorph and equip it on your Dragon, which will cut its ATK in half, since my LP are higher than yours!" The Dragon was weakened as its power diminishes.

Red Eyes Darkness Dragon (9/ATK: 3300–1750/DEF: 2000)

"Now let's try this again! Rook, attack Red Eyes Darkness Dragon!"

_"I'm sorry to say, but I won't hold back now!"_ Rook declared as he jumps high into the air before diving down fast glowing gold with a powerful slash. _"ZUBAAN EXTREME!"_

"Extreme indeed! For your destruction!" Nightshroud said with a smirk as he flips up the first trap card. I activate my trap card, Sakuretsu Armor! With this card, your Monster is destroyed inside out!" With the declaration, Rook's armor started to break apart before he was completely destroyed in mid-air.

"In that case, I declare my Luffy to attack your weakened dragon!" Davis announced as Luffy uses his signature attack.

**GUM GUM...PISTOL!**

With that, Luffy's arm extended as his punch was about to hit the Dragon. "Oh, I'm sorry but I don't think that would be enough! I activate another facedown, Reinforcement! With this card, my Darkness Dragon gains an additional 500 ATK, which is enough to destroy your idiot Avenger!"

_"Say what now?"_

Red Eyes Darkness Dragon: (9/ ATK: 1750–2250/DEF: 2000)

The dragon raised its head and delivers one of its fireball directly onto Luffy, which destroyed him in the process and lava burned Davis yet again.

**Nightshroud:** 2000

**Davis:** 4500

"AGH!" Davis yelled as it still hurts like hell, but soon he shook it off. "I place a monster in DEF mode, set a facedown, and end my turn."

"You may have a lot of LP and some cards on the Field, but soon you will lose…" Nightshroud said as he draws out his next card before looking at Alexis. For some reason, he was hesitant for a moment before he snaps out of it and continued on with his assault. "…and in the end, you will realize that all of your hard work means nothing to this Duel, as your fate is already sealed! First of all, I summon our Red Eyes Wyvern onto the Field!" As the portal opens, another similar black dragon, but a smaller version of it arises from the lava before taking a trip around the area and landed onto his Field. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600)

"I will now declare my Wyvern to attack your Rocket! Attack!" The Wyvern charged at Rocket but then...

"I'll activate Rocket's special ability again to absorb your ATK into my LP!" Davis declared as the Wyvern hits the forcefield and the same thing happens again.

**Nightshroud:** 2000

**Davis:** 6300

"And now, since you had used up that ability, I can declare my Darkness Dragon to obliterate your monster! Chaos Burst Stream!" he commanded. Despite being weakened by the Megamorph, the Dragon makes its move as it spew blackfire streams towards Rocket, whose forcefield wasn't enough as she was engulfed by the flames, some of them even got on Davis.

**Nightshroud:** 2000

**Davis:** 6100

"No! Davis!" Rachel witnessed it as his blazer is almost completely burned out, only leaving him in his black shirt with an Omnitrix insignia on it as Nightshroud continues to laugh manically.

"Is this your best, Avenger?! I heard that you are always trumping every single one of your opponents, but as far as I can see, it was all nothing but a fluke!" Nightshroud continued to badmouth as Davis slowly pulled himself up together.

"I… activate… Quick Summon…" Kurogasa cringed revealing his facedown. "Now… I can Normal Summon one more Monster from my Hand… and I summon American Dream…" When the Star-Spangled Avenger appeared, she immediately ran towards Davis to help him out. (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 2100)

_"Davis, are you all right?!"_ Shannon asked him worriedly.

"Hey~! Our protective barrier isn't going to last long!" Alexis reminded them as the barrier cracks up more, leaving the girls in a vulnerable state.

_"Davis, your friends are in danger. Please don't give up now. Everyone is counting on you…"_ she pleaded.

"They're right. I have to finish this… Everyone's counting on me!" Davis said and drew his next card. He looked at it and smirked at what he got.

**"THIS IS IT!"**

"Oh? It's over, already?" Nightshroud said with a smirk on his face. "And I heard that only ONE person has survived your Final Turn… this should be interesting…" he added as he chuckled.

"Alright! He'll nail it down!" Rachel cheered but kept her steps in check to make sure they didn't fell down to the lava.

"The card that he draws could mean the difference between life and death…" Alexis took note.

"First I tribute my facedown monster in order to summon Kevin Levin in ATK mode!" The Osmosian appeared as he cracked his knuckles (5/ATK: 2150/DEF: 1600).

_"Finally it's my turn." _Kevin said before turning to see Davis suffering from burns from the lava._ "Whoa, kid! You all right?"_

_"Thanks to that Shadow Rider, he's not, But he still has a lot of LP, so he should be good now this is the final turn." _Shannon explained to Kevin before turning to Davis. _"Ready, Davis?"_

"Ready, Shannon." Davis replied before turning his attention on Nightshroud. "Now that you're wide open save for your Dragon and the Megamorph I equipped it with, I have enough to win this duel!"

"NO!" Nightshroud roared out.

"He won!" Rachel and Alexis cried out.

"Now Shannon, slay Red Eyes Darkness Dragon! Charging Star!" Davis yelled.

_"You got it!"_ Shannon nodded in agreement as she dashes forward towards her target and hits it with her shield hard, destroying it into pixels.

**Nightshroud:** 1950

**Davis:** 6100

"Kevin, finish this duel!" Davis ordered.

_"Finally! And you saved the best for last. Nice dude." _Kevin smirked as he took a rock, absorbed its properties, and changed his hands into swords before slashing away at Nightshroud, making the duel end with a bang!

**Nightshroud:** 0

**Davia:** 6100

* * *

Nightshroud grabbed his head, screaming as the lava churned. The defeated Shadow Rider fell over, and then was engulfed in a ring of flame, screaming as the fire licked at him.

"I… win…" Davis murmured before falling unconscious.

"Davis!" Rachel yelled as fire erupted from beneath them. They were soon was surrounded by the searing flames and as their screams filled the night sky, the Obelisks and the Shadow Rider, disappeared into flashes of light.

Alexis and Rachel were slowly coming to. And they found themselves outside near the base of the volcano. "Where… are we?" Alexis wondered as she looked around.

* * *

"What happened?" Rachel said as she looked around as well, but then she gasped as she remembered. "Oh no! Davis!" Rachel and Alexis looked around frantically until he saw Davis unconscious and the unconscious Nightshroud a few feet away. The girls rushed towards Davis. "Davis! Oh, Davis, are you okay?" Rachel asked frantically.

Davis manage to wake up a bit. "Yes, and also… that guy is also unconscious after the fight… and this card fell off from him…_"_ he explained as he shows them the card which contains the same mask that Nightshroud was wearing, covered in chains.

"Well, at least we won't be dealing with Nightshroud anymore…" Alexis said before walking towards the other unmoving form nearby. The young man was lying on his stomach, his face hidden by his hair and arms. She knelt down as the Shadow Rider began to stir. Grunting, he opened one eye and looked straight at her. "…uh, Alexis…"

Alexis gasped, "It… can't be!" She stared at the teen, not wanting to believe what she had just heard as tears began to swell in her eyes.

"Davis, hold on! We're coming!" Rachel looked to see Chazz, Bastion, Zane, Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley running up to them.

"What happened?!" Chazz demanded as they reached them.

"One of those Shadow Rider guys challenged Davis to a duel and he won." Rachel answered as she cuddled with Davis who is once again unconscious for sure.

"So they _were_ here…" Bastion murmured.

Zane then turned to Alexis' direction, glaring at the form she was with, "So, is that the Shadow Rider?" he asked, walking over to them. But when he approached, Zane was surprised to see Alexis crying, hugging the body close to her. "Alexis?" Zane stared at her, eyes wide.

Alexis sniffed and turned to the group, "Guys… It's him! It's really him! I don't understand how, but it's him! I thought we had lost him, but he's back… he's finally back!" she sobbed.

"What are you talking about?" Zane asked carefully, "_Who _is back?"

"Look at his face!" Alexis pleaded, moving away from the body to show them better, "It's my brother!"

Zane's eyes went wide at the tall boy with dark brown hair. "Atticus…?" Zane muttered. The others came up behind them, Davis being carried by Jaden and Rachel.

"It wasn't him before," Alexis sniffed again, "Whatever darkness had a hold on him, that card took it away once Davis beat him!" The sun began to rise over the horizon, lighting up the area. Zane looked at Atticus who lay in his sister's arms. Then, he looked back at Davis who was passed out on Jaden's and Rachel's shoulders.

"If that's how it is when you win a Shadow Game with the Shadow Riders, just think what it'd be like if you lose. The sun may be rising now, but it will fall again soon and when it does… we must be ready!"


	18. Chapter 18: The Cyborg00 Rider

At the top of the volcanic mountain, two feminine figures stood on the edge of it. These were the other two Shadow Riders, Xhemnas and Skull. They were looking at the base of the mountain where the Spirit Key Keepers were. Of course they were high above, so they wouldn't be seen. "So… Nightshroud has failed huh?" Xhemnas scoffed.

"He reaped what he sowed! All of his big talk was all for naught! And I thought that he would do better with the information we got from that masked man…" Skull said before glaring at the group of Spirit Key Keepers. "Oh, I am _soo_ wanting to go all out on that kid with those Elemental Hero Monsters!" She said pointing at Jaden. "My Deck just keeps craving for more destruction!" Xhemnas chuckled for a bit.

"Ok, then. After all he does have the other half of the medallion." Xhemnas said looking at Skull's own half.

"And you'll take on both of them should Nightshroud and I both fail? _HA!_ Good luck with that!" Skull said with a smirk as they saw the rest of the gang walk away from the scene. "I can't wait to let my Deck crawl all over that guy, like how that one army defeated their enemy in Dynasty Warrior 7!"

_(Cue Cutaway)_

_AT SOME SHIPS..._

_Cao Cao stood confidently on his ship, waiting for Shu and Wu to try and attack, and utterly fail. It was taking a bit longer than he expected, but he was a patient man, and all possibilities of an ambush had been taken care of. The Allied Forces wouldn't move a muscles without him knowing._

_"AHHHH!"_

_The cries of his troops and ships being broken off from the fleet and sailing away carried to Cao Cao's ears. He blinked, and looked around wildly. Indeed, there were his troops on their ships, as well as officers, getting the heck outta dodge. This confused the Wei ruler. Why the heck were they retreating?_

_His eyes widened and all color drained from his face as he found out why._

_Huang Gai came onto the ship, holding a stereo above his head a full blast. The Wei army crumbled before him, screaming and covering their ears. And on the stereo, echoing through the night, was:_

_IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY_

_GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY_

_EVERYBODY'S LOOKIN FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND, WEEKEND_

_FRIDAY, FRIDAY_

_GETTIN' DOWN ON FRIDAY_

_EVERYBODY'S LOOKIN FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND_

_PARTYIN' PARTYIN' (YEAH!)_

_PARTYIN' PARTYIN' (YEAH!)_

_FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN_

_LOOKIN' FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND!_

_Cao Cao's mouth dropped. They couldn't take this. He knew when he was beaten._

_Huang Gai saw that the ship was starting to sail, so he jumped into the water after tossing the stereo to a troop on a smaller ship, which he climbed onto. Until the Wei army was out of sight, the song kept on playing, before every single stereo was smashed to pieces._

_Zhou Yu took out his ear plugs. "Zhuge Liang."_

_Zhuge Liang did the same. "Yes?"_

_"That…was brilliant."_

_(End Cutaway)_

Yes. Even bad guys can make cutaways.

* * *

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

** omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

* * *

Chapter 18: The Cyborg00 Rider

That morning, the students that had their Spirit Keys were all in the infirmary with Davis and the returning student Atticus in their beds unconscious. Alexis was already there, no surprise. Who could blame her after everything that happened? Davis risked his life for her (but, mostly Rachel, which she guessed the obvious) and Atticus being gone for a long time is now back. "I don't know if I should feel good that Davis took out a Shadow Rider or bad that the Shadow Rider was actually Alexis's brother?" Rachel commented.

"But hey, at least Kurogasa managed to save him from that Nightshroud… I think…" Syrus replied. "And he has both of those gloves!"

"That's only the beginning... we've already took down one of them, but what about the other two Shadow Riders like Chancellor Sheppard said before?" Bastion began to raise the question.

"And more importantly, when will they show up?" Zane asked.

"Who cares? All I wanna do is duel them for a little payback for what they did to him!" Jaden said with an excitement look on his face.

"What are you nuts?! How can you just go straight into trouble if you don't even know who you're dealing with?!" Chazz began to retaliate.

"This is Jaden we're speaking, so… you get the idea." Bastion ended the argument.

"But still, Chazz is right. We don't know who we're dealing with." Alexis said. "For all we know, they could be victims of what my brother went through…"

Jaden snapped his fingers in realization. "Lex, that's it!"

Everyone turned to the E–Hero Duelist. "_What's_ it?" Syrus asked.

"Hey Miss Fontaine, is there any way to access information on the missing students of the Abandoned Dorm?" Jaden asked.

"I don't know… The Academy wouldn't even allow us to know about that information…" Miss Fontaine frowned.

"Please? We just want to make sure the ones who are missing from the Academy is somehow related to this Shadow Riders…" Rachel pleaded. Miss Fontaine ponders for a bit before eventually she gave them a nod.

"Well, I'll try, but I can't promise anything…"

"At least we got a lead…" Zane added.

"How would you know that, Jaden?" Bastion asked.

"Uh… it was out of the blue? Either that or Lex's brother gave me some hint about it…" he said with a big grin on his face while rubbing the back of his head.

"Sometimes, you can be pretty unpredictable, Jaden…" Rachel commented.

"Hey, I just love surprises and dueling, so I ain't complaining here!" Jaden added.

"I guess we should leave them to rest for now…" Bastion told them.

"You guys go ahead. I want to stay here with my brother until he's awake…" Alexis suggested.

"We understand, Alexis. It must've been so long for you to find him…" Rachel added with a sad smile before all of them headed out. It is then that Rachel stopped her pace and turned around. "By the way, I'm gonna be back to check on Davis later on, so be sure to take care of him for me, ok?" she added with a wink, before heads off to class, leaving Alexis with a slight blush.

With them gone, Alexis looked at her unconscious brother. _'I'm glad to have you back with us, Atticus. After hearing about how you disappeared, I thought you were gone for good. I won't forgive the people who made you into a Shadow Rider… but the thing is you're safe now…'_ She then turned to the unconscious Davis, _'I have_ you _to thank for that Davis.'_ She then patted his head with a smile. _'Thanks to you, my brother is back and safe, and you risked your life to save him, me… _and_ Rachel. Hope you two get together soon.…'_

* * *

As class was over, most of them are heading their way back to their place. "So far, so good. Those guys ain't stupid enough to attack in the middle of the day with students involved in it." Rachel added.

"B–But when you think about it, after looking at Davis' condition, I think this is serious business…" Syrus said putting in his two cents.

"Don't worry, he's faced worst before, like that Narutaki…" Rachel added.

"Yes, but what if this whole Shadow Rider thing could be even worse than _Narutaki_." Syrus asked.

"We won't know for sure unless we face them themselves…" Rachel told them. Unknown to the rest of them, the two Shadow Riders were watching them from afar as they heard the whole thing from the group.

"It seems like they're underestimating our powers… what a fool they really are!" Xhemnas said to her partner with a slight chuckle.

Syrus and Rachel continued to walk until they saw Miss Fontaine coming up to them. "Oh, thank goodness I caught up with you guys."

"Hey Miss Fontaine, what's up?" Rachel asked.

"I'm here to tell you, that the Chancellor said you're clear to access those files."

"Really? That's great!" Rachel said happily. "At least we know who would we're up against, even knowing their Decks." Syrus then turned around all of the sudden. "Sy, what's wrong?"

"I–I got the feeling that we're being watched by someone…" Syrus replied.

"Relax, Sy. Those guys aren't dumb enough to attack us right in the middle of the day, y'know?" Rachel comforted him. "C'mon! We're gonna let the others know about it!" With that said, the two parted ways.

* * *

In the library, everyone but Davis and Alexis met up. Bastion was on the computer that had the files of the missing students. "Got it!" A list of names and headshots of the students showed up in process. "First up: Charles Taggert." The picture was of a light brown haired teen in a Ra Yellow Blazer like Bastion's, resembling a bit like James McAvoy. "A Ra Yellow student in the second year. Age: 16 and 1/2, Second year Ra Yellow, Known Relatives: Mom and Dad, Last Seen: Millennium House to be tested for Obelisk Blue."

"Millennium House? What's that?" Syrus asked.

"Beats me. Must be some sort of a mansion with Egyptian Theme on it." Rachel replied. "Maybe it's another name for the Abandoned Dorm."

"And I think I remember him…" Zane pondered. "I've never seen him do anything much but studying and reading books on mutations;however, he did show a lot of promises."

"Really?" Jaden asked.

The Kaiser nodded his head. But then looked at the next person; Another Obelisk Blue student. "But I definitely know _her_…" It showed a picture of a girl with white with a ponytail on the back of her head with amber eyes.

"Kairi Ansem, Age: 17, Second year Obelisk. Last Known Relatives: Uncle, Last Seen: Millennium House." Rachel read.

"Here's another one." Jaden said pointing out another female student. This one has straight back length black hair with bright electric blue eyes. "Maria Gilmore, Age: 16, Second year Slifer Red, Last Known Relatives: Grandmother and Grandfather, Last Seen: Millennium House to be tested for Ra Yellow."

"Wow, all that hard work went out of the window in an instant. In this record, she was also quite bright and brilliant but really shy and quiet…" Bastion read.

"That's a good thing for a Slifer, unlike _someone_ I know…" Chazz hissed while glaring at Jaden.

"What!? At least I'm bright when it comes to dueling!" Jaden countered.

"Yeah, your enthusiasm will _always_ cause someone trouble…" Chazz replied while crossing his arms.

"Would you two just knock it off already?! Geez, I don't know why you're always fighting each other." Rachel tried to stop them.

"Yeah, we still got those Shadow Riders on the loose…" Syrus added.

"All of these are related to that Millennium House…" Bastion said while looking at the same info on each of the missing student.

"At least there are some potential people we could save from the shadows." Jaden said.

"Then all we have to do is just wait…" Zane added.

"I'll send everyone the info on their Duel Pilots." Bastion said, typing things on the computer. "I'll meet you all at the main academy building later."

"You heard him, guys! Let's go!" Jaden said with excitement before rushing out of the room eagerly.

"Jay! Wait up!" Syrus shouted his name while trying to keep up with him, followed by Chumley.

"If it's dueling, he's gonna go get 'em… might as well pick up the pace…" Rachel added with a sigh before she started to move as Zane coolly walks out from the room.

* * *

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Jaden called out.

"Jay, I don't think they'll pop out like that…" Syrus shivered keeping close to him.

"Yeah, I mean, I haven't got my grilled cheese yet…" Chumley added.

"What does grilled cheese have to do with the Shadow Riders?" Bastion asked looking at Chumley with a confused look.

"It's so that I'll be able to calm down! Grilled cheese always works for me!" Chumley added. Just then, Jaden's half of the medallion started glowing.

"Hey, my medallion is glowing!" Jaden said happily while looking at it. "That could mean the Shadow Rider is close…"

The rest of the gang looked around until they noticed something.

"Is that it?" Chazz pointed out at a tree where Skull was hiding as she landed on the ground and calmly walked towards them.

"So, who's going to be my test subject of the day?" Skull said with a smirk on her face as her medallion was also glowing. Skull looked among the group until she saw the half medallion Jaden was wearing. "You should be my first test subject since you have the other half of the medallion."

"Sweet! Then let's throw down!" Jaden said activating his duel disk.

"Not yet. You're gonna have to follow me first!" Skull said as she ran away.

"Hey! Get back here!" Jaden yelled as he went after with the rest of the gang following. They continued to run ending up in the forest and then they saw Skull at the entrance of a cave to which she entered. Jaden and group decided to follow and when they went into the cave, what met their eyes was a cave with different sorts of technology sticking out of the cave walls and ground.

"Whoa, I haven't noticed there was such a cave before…" Syrus was amazed by the view.

"I wonder if these crystals are real." Chumley pondered.

"They could have cost thousands of dollars!" Bastion said as he continued to look at it.

"Just when would this tunnel end?!" Chazz complained.

They continued to run, until they saw a light at the end of the tunnel. When they got to the end of the tunnel, they were met a humongous cave chamber that resembles a laboratory and the middle of the chamber was a tower of technilogical sorts with Skull in front of it.

"Welcome… to _my_ Lab!" Skull declared as they noticed the duel stage at the middle of it.

"_Your_ lab? How come we didn't know about this before?" Bastion asked.

"It's because we don't!" Chazz retorted.

"I was surprised to see you all manage to get all the way here, but too bad… once you're in–" Skull added with a smirk and the press of a button on a remote she was holding before the entrance cave slowly closed down. When it closed up completely, Syrus and Chumley tried to make their escape but it was all in vain.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Jaden asked.

"It's part of a Shadow Game! What _else_ could it be?" Skull teased while still keeping a smile on her face. "You know, I kept thinking of how to expand my collection of inventions that I have in my disposal, and so far, the only things I've kept were only flowers and insects…" she said. The lights brightened up and it showed some flowers and insects in the showcase… inside some tubes.

"What the-?! What are you trying to do!?" Jaden said in shock.

"It's nothing really… and I'm getting bored of collecting something like those. Now, my interest is on experimenting my soon–to–be test subjects!" she said with a smirk as a few tubes shoot out from the ground and traps Jaden's friends around.

"Great Scott, where did these come from?!" Bastion was shocked to the sudden tubes.

"Guys!" Jaden cried out.

"Well, you know the drill, right? You win, your friends are free. I win, well… I might keep you as a test subject along with them!" Skull offered as she chuckled. Jaden turned to Skull and growled a bit.

"Alright then, let's throw down." Jaden said activating his duel disk.

"Yes, lets." Skull said as she removed her hood to reveal long flowing silver hair with electric blue eyes and activated her duel disk as well. Both players drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Skull:** 4000

**Jaden:** 4000

"Hey hold on." Bastion said taking out his Duel Pilot for the info. "Jaden, that's Maria Gilmore! She's one of the missing students!"

"She is?" Syrus said in confusion as he looked back and forth before he realized it. "Whoa! It really _is_ her!"

"Oh, this I gotta see. I can't wait to see his butt being kicked by a girl!" Chazz said with a smirk.

"Chazz, whose side are you on, really?" Bastion deadpanned.

"Enough of this! Let's go for it already!" Skull said in annoyance as she draws out her sixth card. "I'm going to start this thing by summoning out Cyborg 009 onto the Field!" As soon as she placed the card onto the field, a Japanese man with brown hair in a suit appeared before his suit changed into some sort of red uniform with black boots, yellow buttons, and an orange scarf. (4/ATK: 1750/DEF: 1250)

"Great Scott, what kind of Monster is that?!" Bastion was shocked to witness the view.

"What kind, you asked? This is a Cyborg 00 monster! There are actually 9 of these cyborgs and I have them all, which I'll use to crush you and obtain your key! Isn't that awesome?!" Skull chuckled.

"Cyborg 00, huh?" Bastion pondered. This should be interesting.

"I set two cards face down and end my turn!" She declared as two facedown holograms are set on the Field.

"Then it's my move!" Jaden declared drawing his sixth card. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in ATK mode!" A portal opened and the electric hero came out (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1400). "Now, Sparkman, blast that guy with Static Shockwave!" Jaden ordered.

Sparkman made electricity with his hands and shot it towards the cyborg. As soon as the attack is about to connect, an evil laugh came from Skull. "Oh man, you just made a mistake in attacking me…" Skull told him with smirk.

"Uh… and why's that?" Jaden asked carefully.

"Oh, it's simple, really…" Skull chuckled as she pressed a button on her Duel Disk. "Because I activate the Trap card, Accelerate! First, this changes your attack to a direct attack onto me and then I can wage a direct attack on you with Cyborg 009!"

_"Here goes. Accelerate!" _009 said to himself before he clenched his teeth and he ran at superspeed, making the electricity miss him while it was brought down on Skull herself.

**Skull:** 2400

**Jaden:** 4000

Once that's done, the cyborg went towards Jaden at his current momentum and landed a roundhouse kick on him, making him fall to the ground.

**Skull:** 2400

**Jaden:** 2250

_"Sorry about that kid." _009 apologized.

"No problem, that was sloppy of me." Jaden said to the monster as he gets back up and noticed something. "Say, I must admit you are good. Hey, Skull, you have a Duel Spirit, too? "

"Actually, like your Avenger friend who took down Nightshroud, I have Duel _Spirits_. But enough of this, make your move, Key Keeper!" Skull said.

"Ok, then. I'll place a facedown and call it a turn." Jaden said placing a reverse card on the Field.

"My go~!" Resa cheered happily as she drew out her next card. "Let's see here, first, I play my facedown, 00 Reunion! By paying half of my LP, I can Special Summon as many Cyborg 00 I have in my Hand and I got just the two! Cyborg 005!" she stated as a Native-American in a construction worker's outfit (7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 2700) appeared on the Field before his uniform changed to a similar outfit like 009.

_"Oh, crap. He's here." _009 thought to himself._ "The kid's got to be ready for this."_

"Oh boy, that doesn't look good." Jaden murmured.

"Of course! I haven't done anything yet!" Skull said. "Alright, I declare my 005 to beat up your Sparkman!" An aura glowed as strange tattoo-like markings sudenly appeared on 005's face. He then charged forward and raises his fist, trying to falcon punch Sparkman out of the Field.

"No you don't! I activate Draining Shield!" Jaden countered revealing the facedown. "I can negate that attack, increase my LP with your monster's attack and end your Battle Phase immediately!" The attack struck on to the barrier that protected Sparkman. When the fist was pulled out, the barrier shattered away, turning the remains into an aura that healed Jaden, yet causing Sparkman to be vulnerable again.

**Skull:** 2400

**Jaden:** 4850

Skull was upset at the moment, but she calmed down. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! (sigh)… Oh well; I guess I'm done for now."

"Oh boy. That was close…" Chumley said while in a relief. "Now I _definitely_ need a grilled cheese to calm down…"

"Just shut your trap, ya' big baby! I just want to see the duel!" Chazz snapped.

"It doesn't seem like she's going to put her guard down anytime soon… Jaden, be careful!" Bastion told him.

"Better make this quick, or I'll end up being a frog; dissected." Jaden said as he drew his next card and smiled. "Sweet! I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in ATK mode!" The water–themed hero appeared on the Field (4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200). "And since he's the only Monster on my Field, I get to draw two cards!" Jaden drew two and his smile got even wider. "And things just got sweeter; I play the Spell Card, Mask Change!"

"Mask Change?" Skull blinked in confusion.

"Oh yeah! He's going to call for back–up!" Syrus cheered.

"What the hell does that do?" Skull demanded.

"Oh, you'll see! Bubbleman, perform the transformation summon!" Bubbleman jumped up and donned a blue mask that appeared out of nowhere. He puts it on and his form was enveloped in light and his outfit changed. It was now another shade of blue, darker than the original blue. He also wielded a gun with a can–like barrel (8/ATK: 2600/DEF: 2100). "Meet Masked Hero Acid!"

"Masked Hero… using the power of Mask Change on a certain element of a certain hero, anything is possible." Bastion explained.

"When did that Monster get a power–up?!" Skull was shocked to see the new appearance of the hero.

"Uh duh, when I used Mask Change." Jaden grinned. "Now his effect activates! When he's Special Summoned, he destroys all Spell and Trap cards on your side of the Field! And when he does, all of your Monster's lose 300 ATK!" Skull gasped as her cards were destroyed immediately by the acid. "Now it's your monsters' turn!" Jaden pointed out as the acid hit its targets and 005 and 002's suit started to corrode a bit, showing some bit of machinery underneath.

Cyborg 005 (7/ATK: 2600–2300/DEF: 2700)

Cyborg 009 (4/ATK: 1750–1450/DEF: 1200)

"And I'm not done yet! I play Polymerization, fusing Elemental Hero Avian and Burstinatrix together to create the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Avian and Burstinatrix appeared and jumped into a vortex and a light shined from it until his signature Fusion Monster appeared (6/ATK: 2100/DEF: 1200).

"Hah! With that Monster, the only thing you can inflict Damage to is my 009 and I'll only take like what, 650 points of Damage?" Skull shrugged.

"Seems like she doesn't know the true power of Flame Wingman…" Bastion said with a smile on his face.

"Listen up, you little brat! When Flame Wingman is on the Field, if that thing destroys a Monster on your side of the Field, you take Damage equals to its ATK points! Whether you like it or not, you still take BIG damage!" Chazz informed her.

"Say what now?!" Skull gasped at this.

"You heard what Chazz said! Now Flame Wingman attack 009 with Skydiving Scorcher! And Masked Hero Acid, attack 005 with Acid Spray Barrage!" Jaden ordered. Flame Wingman flapped its wing and began to soar to the sky before charging its dragon arm and aims it towards 002, destroying him in no time.

**Skull:** 1750

**Jaden:** 4850

"Hey, don't you forget about Flame Wingman's superpower, while I also play the Quick Spell, Rush Recklessly, on Masked Hero Acid giving him an extra 700 ATK!" Jaden exclaimed as Flame Wingman aims its dragon head onto her before blasting her point blank, making her stumble back a few steps while some parts of her clothes began to burn a bit.

**Skull:** 350

**Jaden:** 4850

"No… this can't be!" Skull stuttered as she took a few steps back from what's going to happen next.

Meanwhile, Masked Hero Acid was glowing as the Spell card took effect as he took aim at Ruby and charges up his weapon.

Masked Hero Acid (8/ATK: 2600–3300/DEF: 2100)

After that, he unleashed a barrage of acid blast, sprays some all over 005, who melts away into a puddle, while one of the blasts hit Skull point blank, knocking her off her feet and sending her straight to the tower, making her unconscious.

**Skull:** 0

**Jaden:** 4850

* * *

The tube went back into the ground, freeing Jaden's friends (and Chazz). "You did it, Jay!" Syrus cheered as he and the others ran up to Jaden.

"That was a lishus duel!" Chumley added.

"Nice going, Jaden! You just beaten up a girl!" Chazz retorted.

"Oh, come on! I didn't do it on purpose!" Jaden whined. "Sy, Chum, mind if you go check up on Maria?"

"Yeah sure, no prob." Syrus said before he and Chumley went towards the unconscious girl who has been freed from the Darkness. Syrus kneels down while checking up on her condition.

"Well?" Chumley asked.

"Just bruises here and there, nothing serious. She's just unconscious… not to mention how cute she is…" Syrus murmured on that last part blushing a bit.

"Huh?" Chumley asked.

"Nothing." Syrus said quickly. "Uh, you carry her."

"Why _me_?!" Chumley asked.

"You're big enough to carry her, and I'm gonna be helping Jay, anyways." Syrus said before going to back to Jaden.

"Hmph. Fine." Chumley grumbled before sighing and giving Maria a piggyback ride. With that, the Slifers, Ra, Maria, and least Chazz-

"Hey!" Chazz shouted at whoever just mentioned his name last.

All headed out of the cave to go back to the Academy.


	19. Chapter 19: Strike of the Keyblade

Chancellor Sheppard was in his office, silent for the moment having a lot on his mind. He looked down on his desk that had two files. These were the files of the missing students. Particularly these were the files on Atticus and Maria. _'In just two days, the Shadow Riders have dueled two of my students.'_ He thought as he looked at the files. _'And they turn out to be two of my missing students.'_

* * *

Flashback

_In the morning, he was visited Bastion and Jaden. They were explaining to him the events of yesterday. "So another one struck…" He said._

_"Yeah, and she's in the same room with Davis and Atticus right now." Jaden told him._

_"That's two down. We don't know where the last one might be…" Bastion said while thinking about the matter. "Who would've thought that the Shadow Riders Davis and Jaden fought were actually missing students from the Abandoned Dorm?"  
_

_"I've heard that Atticus is back, but who did you duel, Jaden?" Sheppard asked._

_"A second year Obelisk named Maria Gilmore." Jaden answered. "Chazz, Chumley, Syrus, Bastion, and I were taken to this secret lab and I dueled her there and won."_

_"I see. I'll notify Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Gilmore. How many students are left?"_

_"Two more sir." Bastion answered._

_"Very well, that will be all." Sheppard said and with that Bastion and Jaden left his office._

End Flashback

* * *

Sheppard slowly stood up from his seat and took a view outside of the window to look at the view of the island. "I didn't expect that to happen at all. Could it be that the third one is also one of the missing students? Could all of the Shadow Riders we're facing be the missing students? How did they even disappear in the first place?" The chancellor kept thinking about the matter.

Meanwhile, Xhemnas was leaning on a tree as she wasn't satisfied about the news that reached her ears. "So the only ones left are me and Xainus. Heh, no biggie. Wait until they got a load of me." Xhemnas was determined to do so before she began to leap from one tree to another.

* * *

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

** omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

* * *

Chapter 19: Strike of the Keyblade

At the infirmary, the Key Keepers met up again and three beds were occupied. Davis and Atticus were obviously occupying two of them and third one was occupied by Maria. Jaden already recovered; he only needed a few minor treatments.

"Now all that's left is the last one…" Zane said while crossing his arms.

"Yeah, but we still have no idea who the next missing student is…" Chumley added.

"I wonder if the next Shadow Rider has some sweet Deck that I can duel it out with." Jaden pondered.

"Is that what you _always_ think of, slacker?!" Chazz asked feeling annoyed by the fact.

"More importantly, we all should keep our guard up. We don't know who's going to be the next target…" Bastion suggested.

"Whoever it is, this is gonna take a while… if only Davis's up, he'll calm the storm down here…" Rachel said with a sigh, staring at the unconscious Avenger Duelist.

"But unfortunately right now, he's out for the count, so it's up to us to handle this kind of matter for the time being…" Bastion mentioned.

"I just hope that he's alright…" Syrus said worried, then pondered for a bit before he thought of something. "I wonder if Davis' mom might be a part of this Shadow Rider business." This rewarded Syrus a glare from the rest of the the group. "What? It's just a thought!" he added with a sweat drop on his head.

"I'm not so sure about his mom, but we do know that Narutaki is still out there, preparing for the hunt of his Deck…" Rachel stated.

"If that's the case, I think we should go and find this last Shadow Rider and get some answers!" Jaden suggested before he ran towards the door in a rush.

"Hey, Jaden, wait up!" Syrus shouted as he, Bastion and Chumley tagged along.

"I'll follow along to see if Jaden gets _actually_ beaten by a Shadow Rider." Chazz suggested as he follows along.

As the five boys left for another Shadow Rider hunt, we cue into Davis' mind to see what's going on inside it.

* * *

_Deep within his mind. Davis found himself lying on a couch in some sort of headquarter with people (or creatures of possibly alien origin) in black and white suits. "Where the hell am I?" Davis wondered as he slowly sat up._

"So, you're awake." _An old man's voice said._

"Are you okay, Davis?" _A familiar woman's voice asked concerned._

_Davis knew for that the woman's voice he heard. He finally came to, and what he saw was the Avengers, some out of their costumes. With them was an old man with a red Hawaiin shirt on, Kevin, Rook, and Gwen._

_"Max Tennyson?" Davis asked._

"Ah, it looks like this boy is going to be alright…" _Max said with a calm tone. _"You've been knocked out right after the battle with the first Shadow Riders. In order to prevent your subconscious to be affected by the darkness, we managed to pull you in right before you were unconscious. Sorry about the sudden action…"

_"No, it's okay." Davis waved off as he now stood up. "Thank you. It could've been worse."_

_(Cue Cutaway)_

_Davis awoke from his bed with a yawn, before looking out the window to see hundreds of planes flying around the Dorm with familiar neighbors screaming. The Avenger Duelist sighed, "Looks like another usual day for me..."_

_(End Cutaway)_

"By the way, why are we gathered here anyways?" _Felecia asked them._

"There are two reasons. One of them is what Grandpa Max said, we have to pull you here to make sure you don't suffer a lot when you get back to reality…" _Ben__ explained to the rest._

"And the other one?" _Maxine asked._

"While you were asleep, I had a dream,… a premonition of what's going to happen in your world, Davis…" _Bart added._

"A dream?"_ Luffy asked._

"Another Civil War…" _he told them. At that point, the whole room… was silent. No one said a word. Heck, no one even dared to say a word. That is, until Davis spoke._

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, w–what do you mean by another Civil War?" Davis asked._

"Davis, remember I told you about the first Civil War and how I _accidentally _started it before, right?" _Bart asked him._

"Well, yeah… but I know that you managed to stop it and save everyone. Like what the Watcher predicted; after so many destructions and so many battles, a miracle happens…" _Davis added._

"But _this_ one is different. This Civil War occurs… in _your_ world." _Bart added, surprising Davis for a bit._

"And it won't cause any miracles if they've done so… well, for _you_ guys, that is…" _Max added._

"It must be involved with that Dark Bartman/Villain user, Narutaki, right?" _Racquel pointed out, which he nodded._

"In my dream, he along with a force of darkness fight together to release three ancient monsters and your comrades were being defeated in a duel with them… because of this… Shadow Realm, the Dark Bartmen and the villains have become real and started this Civil War." _Bart explained. _"This time, I'm kinda glad it's not me._  
_

"And how are we supposed to prevent this war?" _Shannon asked._

"It is an inevitable fate that will occur and both sides will be involved… both all of us and your friends…" _Bart further explained._

_"No…" Davis got out before his knees buckled and fell until Kevin caught him._

"Hey, you ok?" _Kevin asked worriedly._

"Davis, stay strong!" _Rikku comforted him._

"It's like what Karheim said…" _Ayla remembered about the past encounters._

"He's going to face difficult obstacles…" _Cassie pointed out._

"What the hell! Isn't there a way to stop this from happening?!"_ Sam was furious about the matter._

_Bart can only shake his head in disagreement before he continued to tell him,_ "Fate is already being written and there's nothing we can do about it… unless, if you can defy it with your will, Davis…"

"Defy it?" _Zane asked._

"Yeah. After all, you do hold Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which is us, Davis. It's your duty to make sure that this war doesn't occur… but for how long, I cannot tell…" _Bart added._

"Only you can stop this war from happening, young man." _Max explained._

"So I guess it seems like my task has been handed down to you now… just for your world, that is…" _Bart__ said nonchalantly. _"By the way, you should get going already. Rachel is waiting for ya on the reality side."

_ With that said, Davis was sent back to reality._

* * *

Later that night, with Alexis, Zane, and Miss Fontaine not in the room since the former two went to hunt for Shadow Riders at that time, Rachel was still at Davis' bed side. Holding his hand, she looked at his unconscious form, hoping that he would wake up. And that was answered when Davis began to stir. He slowly opened up his eyes, squinting for a moment to adjust to the lighting and the first thing he saw was Rachel. "Rachel…" Davis got out.

"Davis! You're awake!" She said relieved. "I thought you'd _never_ wake up…"

"Yeah… damn, that hurt…" Davis said as he slowly got up to sit upright. "So what happened to Nightshroud?"

"You might not believe it, but… Nightshroud… was Alexis' brother, Atticus." She said.

"What?!" Davis gasped in horror. "Oh no… Did I–" But Rachel immediately waved it off.

"No, no, no, it's okay. Atticus is fine. It was Nightshroud's soul that was sealed away, not his."

"Oh, thank god for that," Davis sighed, leaning back. "If I ended up sealing him away just when we found him… Still, it's good news to us, at least…"

"And you need to get yourself a new blazer as well…" Rachel joked for a moment as the room is filled with their laughs before it eventually became silent once again. "Davis… thank you…"

"Huh? For what?" Davis asked.

"Well, for one, saving Alexis and her brother. And two, for saving me as well…" she said while looking down. "…but… you've been sacrificing your body for my sake… even if it nearly killed you…"

"Hey, it's nothing I can't recover from." Davis waved off.

"But still… you would've…" Rachel trailed off looking really concerned.

"But I didn't."

"Davis…" Rachel got out.

"If I have to, I'll do it again. And I'll keep on doing that." He then remembered the conversation that he had with his Avengers and Max Tennyson. He has to do this. He has to protect those that are precious to him. His friends _and_ Rachel. It's his duty. "I don't care if I get hurt. Hell, I don't care if I give up my life for you. Even if I get hurt or lose my life, knowing that you're safe and your life going on will be worth it… and I won't regret any of it." Davis said. Rachel gasped at his words before the former bowed to her and held her hands.

"Davis?" Rachel got out looking at him.

"My life belongs to you, Rachel." Davis said before raising his head up to look at her. "And I will use it for your sake until the very end…"

She was surprised to hear _those_ kinds of words from him too before she continued, "Davis…"

"I love you, Rachel…" Davis confessed to her, making him gain a slight blush while she was even more surprised to hear it from him.

"I… I…" Rachel stuttered for a bit.

"It took me all the courage I could gather, not to mention my Avenger friends who kept supporting me all this time to say it and… finally, I can say it clearly, even though it can be quite embarrassing…" Davis said as his eyes are looking at hers.

Rachel looks down for a bit but Davis noticed her smile. "_I_ should be the one who confesses my love to _you_ instead…" Davis looked up to Rachel, his face red matched only by the brunette's crimson cheeks. "You kind of became more obvious as the year went on. Mindy and Jasmine were beginning to plot on ways to try and get us together, even Alexis knew about this yet she just kept it in secret," Rachel smiled. "I guess somewhere along the way, I… I fell in love with you too. After getting to know you, the both of us going through what we have, just being side by side felt like it was right, like it was a great combination. I guess since I was so inexperienced with things like this I didn't know what to do and just left it alone. Maybe Alexis might be right about this."

Davis could only look at her for a while until he smiled gently. He took his right hand and held her chin up so that Rachel looked at him. The two of them looked deep into each other's eyes for a while before they slowly leaned in, closed their eyes, and kissed. At first, it was light and fleeting, but as soon as they gotten used to it, they deepened their kiss. It was a kiss filled with so much love and one they'll never forget for the rest of their lives. Outside the infirmary, most of the Avengers cheered for Davis, and even Laura smiled at the couple for a bit before going back to smoking her cigar.

_"All right! They did it!"_ Felecia cheered while she did a little dance jig with Rikku.

_"Davis, you have finally become a full grown man…"_ May said.

_"This is one brave thing,_ everyone's_ gonna remember."_ Shannon said. _"Congrats, Davis."_

_"I'm so happy for them."_ Cassie sighed happily.

_"Do you think we should take their pictures, Bart?"_ Sam asked.

_"Nah, they've been through enough as it is. Let them have their moment…"_ Bart said in a nonchalant tone. _"Besides, it's full so I'm gonna go back and upload some into the laptop so I'll have more room for some._

After kissing for a good minute, Davis and Rachel slowly pulled apart and opened their eyes to look at each other smiling, with their foreheads pressed together. "I guess this makes us officially boyfriend/girlfriend huh." Davis smiled.

"Damn right it does," Rachel smiled. "And I'm not letting go."

"You better not. Cuz we gotta deal with Alexis, Jasmine, and Mindy. They'll never hear the end of this once they and the rest of the Academy find out about us." Davis chuckled.

"Don't you worry about them," Rachel told him. "Right now, this is just about the two of us. Now c'mere you." She smiled and pulled Davis in to steal another kiss before...

"Hey Rach- Oh!" Alexis came in to see them making out. "Glad that you're awake, Davis. By the way, once you two lovebirds are done, it's my turn to keep the patients company."

"Oh, ok then." Davis said before he gave a quick surprise kiss on Rachel's lips. "Let's go, babe!"

"Ok, baby!" Rachel replied before helping Davis up out of the bed and went off Shadow Rider hunting.

After they left, Alexis noticed Davis' clothes on his side of the bed, which means..."Oh well. He's gonna come back in a few minutes once he realized it."

20 minutes later...

Davis and Rachel were walking down an empty hallway getting ready to go out of the building until Davis suddenly felt cold. "Hm…" Davis ponders for a moment.

"What's wrong, Davis?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know… I got a sudden chill running down my arms just now…" Davis said while rubbing his arms.

"We're nearly there. What could possibly go wrong?" Rachel asked. Suddenly, they heard a chilling laughter echo in the air.

"U–Uh… what's that?" Rachel asked as she cuddled with Davis for safety.

"Someone's laughing at us… a girl, no less…" DAvis said as he looked around for a bit. "This might be one of those Shadow Riders!"

"You are correct Key Keeper." The voice said. The three of them turned a see a girl about 16 with white hair with a high ponytail on back of her head. Her clothes was a mix of the Psychic Dressphere for Yuna from Final Fantasy X–2, except the colors were that of Xhemhort's Heartless, Ansem.

"Who are you?!" Davis demanded.

"You can call me Xhemnas." The girl in question answered.

"Xhemnas? Never heard such a name before…" Rachel said while keeping close to her new boyfriend.

"So, you must be looking for the key, huh?" Davis asked.

"Not just, actually. I am here to obtain the Key and avenge my two fellow Riders…" Xhemnas pointed out.

"Wait a minute…" Rachel frowned as she pulled her Duel Pilot on the info. He looked at Xhemnas then at the picture and he gasped. "Davis, that's Kairi Ansem, one of the missing students!"

"Who?" Davis gasped.

"While you were unconscious, we've been looking up on the missing students who went to the Abandoned Dorm and so far, we found two who were also two of the Shadow Riders: Atticus Rhodes and an Obelisk Blue girl named Maria Gilmore. Xhemnas here, AKA Kairi Ansem, is the third missing student we've found right now."

"It's been a while since I've heard such a name… but too bad, I have been reborn as a Shadow Rider and renamed Xhemnas… now it is time to play a Shadow Game!" Xhemnas said before the light begins to shine the area, accompanied by a strong blow of the wind and eventually, they were all engulfed in light.

"Ugh! My eyes!" Davis said while covering up his eyes.

"Not this again!" Rachel complained. As soon as the light dimmed down, they definitely knew they weren't in Duel Academy. "Where the hell are we?".

"Welcome… to the battleground, Key Keepers." Xhemnas announced. They were in an open area filled with stairs-like terrain, high cliffs, strange column-like structure with glowing blue marks, and strange orbs of darkness everywhere. Seeing the area as...well, dark, from the looks of things, they were in another dimension. A Realm of Darkness, to be exact.

"This is our battle ground?! This place?!" Davis asked.

"Not to mention how dark and creepy it is!" Rachel added. "This is even worse than the time I got stuck in quicksand!"

_(Cue Cutaway)_

**_Stage 1: Denial_**

_"Well, it-it's no big deal." Rachel quietly said to herself. "Th-This probably isn't even quicksand. I-I'll have a good laugh with the girls about this tonight. Yeah, ahahaha...haha...ha...ohh, boy."_

**_Stage 2: Anger_**

_"Well this is just (bleep)ing perfect! I finally get a (bleep)ing damn job and all I have to do to officially get it is to get to work on time, but NO! I gt stuck in Quicksand. Stupid jungle, I wanna punch someone in the nuts! Mother(bleep)! MOTHER(bleep)!** MOTHER(bleep)!** Ahh, (bleep)! Stupid jungle! AHH, (bleep)!"_

**_Stage 3: Barganing_**

_"Um, um OK, G-God! Yes, God." Rachel shouted to the heavens. "If you can hear me - it's me, Rachel. Listen, if you get me the hell out of this Quicksand, I promise...I promise I will never make fun of that kid down the lane again. Although I can't say the same for Antoinette for being Black."_

**_Stage 4: Depression_**

_Title self explanitory._

**_Stage 5: Acceptance_**

_"You know something? I'm cool with this. Yeah, I've lived a good life. Besides, heaven's probably got so many clubs that I'll never need to worry about my life again. Yeah. Take me, sweet death! I await your loving embrace!" But just as she was about to accept her fate, she suddenlt hit the bottom. "W-What? I think I hit the bottom!" She struggled and strained to get out, but to no avail. Her head was barely sticking out while her feet were planted on the bottom. "(bleep)!"_

_(End Cutaway)_

"Correct. This is our Shadow Duel. Between myself… and you, Key Keeper." Xhemnas pointed at Davis with a serious glance.

"You and me in this some sort of mix of Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts place? That's fine by me. I'll win and get us ALL out of here!" Davis then activated his duel disk. He puts it on and inserted his Deck in the disk making it go from standby to active.

"Ah, _if_ you manage to win… but if not, you will be trapped in this dimension for eternity, never to be heard from again. Do you agree with the terms?" Xheemnas offered as she held her deck into her hand before slides it into her Duel Academy Edition duel disk.

"Oh _I'll_ win. Count on it." Both players drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Xhemnas:** 4000

**Davis:** 4000

"I shall make my first move…" Xhemnas declared as she draws out her sixth card. "I shall activate a Field Spell, known as Traverse Town." she declared as her Field Spell Card pops up and she slides it in as the whole area began to change. What was once just a massive black world, now they are in a Victorian-age town surrounded by an arrangement of various shops and houses.

"I will then summon Donald Duck onto the battlefield." As the portal opens up, an anthromorphic duck with white plumage, a yellow-orange bill, legs of the same color, light blue eyes, and a short tuft of feathers on his head, which were visible under his blue beret, appears. He was wearing a modified version of a some sailor suit while wielding his staff on his hand, looking a bit aggressive as if he's ready to take down any opponent he sees. (4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1600) "One of Traverse Town's effects activates; when I summon a Monster to the Field, Traverse Town increases that Monster's ATK by 200 and its DEF by 300."

Donald Duck (4/ATK: 1200-1400/DEF: 1600-1900)

"Then I set a card face down and end my turn." she added.

"Alright then, time for me to throw down!" Davis said drawing his sixth card. "I play Double Summon allowing me to summon twice this turn, so now I'll call my Axe Dragonute and my Lance Dragonute to the Field!" At that point, two dragons flew out. One was a green dragon holding a large lance in its hands. It had a horn on its head and a small one on its nostrils. Its body is armor-like instead of scales. The lance is bright green and the blades are silver. (4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1800) The other, this time a black dragon looks similar to the green one , except it was carrying a large axe in each hand (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1200) appeared. "And when they're both together on the Field, you're in an huge world of trouble! So I'll end my turn with a facedown." Davis concluded placing a reverse card on the Field.

"Hm…" Xhemnas took a moment to observe what was on the field before she draws out her next card. "I was wondering what kind of move you would do next… but let's see if you can avoid this! I'll summon my Mulan onto the Field."

With her declaration, a portal opens up as a woman steps out from it. In her appearance, she has a long hair that reaches her back and rich brown eyes. She wears a green outfit that exposes only a few skin, notably her belly and her left side which has a dragon tattoo, and a black belt. She also has her signature sword on her left side of the belt. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000)

"Wow, she's beautiful…" Rachel admired her.

"Tell me about it." Davis supported.

"And she gets the Traverse Town bonus as well…" she added as her monster powers up.

Mulan (4/ATK: 1600-1800/DEF: 1000-1300)

"What's she up to?" Rachel wondered.

"I don't know. But whatever she's planning, it's probably not good." Davis answered.

"I could have attacked if you didn't have a stronger monster on the Field…so just to prepare for the worst, I set another card facedown, switch Donald in DEF mode, and end my turn." she added while setting her next face down and her duck took a knee.

"My turn!" Davis said as he drew his next card. "I'll just set a facedown and this turn."

"Oh? If that's the case, I shall make my draw," Xhemnas said as she picks up her next card and take a look at it. "I activate Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three cards and discard two." She demonstrated as she picks up three cards and discarded two.

"She seems calm about it, despite she can't attack…" Rachel said as she took a glance over her calm nature.

"Next I activate my Spell Card, Tribute to the Doomed. I can discard one card, in order to break your lockdown. And I shall choose… your Axe Dragonute." As she discarded the card to the Graveyard, a mummy's hand appears on the ground and grabbed a hold on the Axe Dragonute, forcing it to join into the earth, destroying it in the process.

"Aw, crap. There goes my monster…" Davis muttered.

"And with that out of the way, I can command Mulan to attack your Lance Dragonute. Go, take it down with Dragon's Rush!" she pointed out as Mulan unsheathes her sword, leaps high to the sky and delivers a slash directly at the Lance Dragonute on its chest. The Dragonute was then destroyed into pixels.

**Xhemnas:** 4000

**Davis:** 3700

"Now Mulan's effect activates. If she manages to destroy a Monster during the Battle Phase, she is allowed to declare a second attack. Attack him directly with Dragon Blow!" she said as Mulan does an elbow uppercut on Davis.

"Argh!" Davis grunted as he was send flying back before falling down on the ground.

**Xhemnas:** 4000

**Davis:** 1900

"Davis!" Rachel cried out.

"Oww…" Davis groaned rubbing his chin. "That hurt…"

"And things would get better. I still have Donald Duck to attack. Get him with Fire!" she declared as Donald waved his staff, which launched a barrage of fire right towards Davis.

"Activate trap!" Davis said revealing his facedown. "Draining Shield! Now your attack is negated as well as me gaining Life Points, equal to Donald's ATK!" The sudden appearance of the barrier causes his fire to be extinguished, while Davis is recovered because of it.

**Xhemnas:** 4000

**Davis: **3300

"Phew, thank goodness for his shield." Rachel sighed in relief.

"With that, I'll set a monster in DEF and let it be for now." Xhemnas announced as she did so.

"Now it's my turn." Davis drew his next card. "Just what I'm looking for. First, I'll summon Rikku in ATK mode!" The technician Avenger appeared (4/ATK:1500/DEF:1600). "Now I activate her ability to return all my cards in the Graveyard to my Deck and shuffle them." He said as he did so. "Next, I activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two more cards from my Deck!" Davis drew two more and when he took a look at them, he smiled. "Now, I play Quick Summon allowing me to summon one more monster to the Field and I choose Bartman OOO!" The silhouette of a man appeared and on his waist was a belt with a rectangular box that had three circular slots. He took out the traffic light coins and inserted the coins in the slots. Taking the scanner from the side of his belt and scanned them making three chiming sounds. _"Let's Ride!"_

**HAWK! TIGER! GRASSHOPPER! TATOBA!  
**

**TA–TO–BA TATOBA TA–TO–BA!**

The silhouetted man became surrounded by spinning colored Medals which accompanied the transformation. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Hawk was on the top, Tiger was in the middle, and Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into solid armor. Becoming Bartman OOO (4/ATK: 2000/DEF: 2000).

"But he won't be there for long because I play Super Medals, allowing me to summon his most powerful form!" Davis declared. From that said card, three Medals, similar to Bart's usual Medals yet golden, came out and Bart caught them. He then replaced his usual Medals with the new ones. _"All right! Here we go!" _Bart said as he scanned the Medals.

**SUPER! SUPER! SUPER!  
**

**SUPER HAWK! SUPER TIGER! SUPER GRASSHOPPER! SUPER TATOBA!  
**

**SU~PER! TATOBA TA-TO-BA! SUPER!**

**BGM: Anything Goes!  
**

OOO became surrounded by spinning colored Medals by the spinning medals again. Images of the three Medals he was using appeared. Super Hawk was on the top, Super Tiger was in the middle, and Super Grasshopper was at the bottom. The three images then combined into one large crest which flew backwards and into his chest. His body then became enveloped in energy which swiftly hardened into new solid armor. When the transformation is done, Bart's new form appeared. It looks like the upgraded version of the Tatoba combo, with the Super Hawk Head helmet resembling the Great Hawk Helm in Tajador Form, the Super Tiger Claws being sharper, and the Hopper Legs being...spikey. (10/ATK: 4050/DEF: 3750)

Looking at his new form, Bart feels ecstatic. _"Awww, yeah, boy! Ready to beat this bitch, Davis!?" _

"You got it, Bart! Before we do that, I activate Bart's effect; by sacrificing Rikku, he gains her ATK until the end of my turn!"

_"Hope you don't mind?" _Bart asked Rikku.

_"Not at all. Just use it well, Bart."_ Rikku said before turning into mist which empowered Bart as an aura formed around him.

Bartman OOO - Super TaToBa Form (10/ATK: 4050-5550/DEF: 3750)

"This can't be good!" Xhemnas was surprised at how powerful Davis' monster has become.

"Now attack Mulan! Super Tatoba Kick!" Bart took his scanner and scanned his Medals.

**SCANNING CHARGE!**

With that, Bart charged at the woman as he passed three rings representing the Medals.

_"SEE–YAAAH!"_

He reached his target, hitting her in the chest as she was destroyed within pixels, causing damage to Xhemnas' Life Points.

**Xhemnas:** 250

**Davis**: 3300

**BGM Ends**

"After your attack, I can activate my face down, Phoenix Down. With this card, I can Special Summon a Monster that was destroyed in battle. And I choose… my Mulan, but her ATK will be cut in half." she told him as a feather of a phoenix slowly descends on the ground before it touches on the ground and a portal opens up from the ground and a blur leaps high to the sky and landed on the ground. Mulan took back her stance to attack once again.

Mulan (4/ATK: 1600–1000/DEF: 1000)

"And so, what will you do next, Key Keeper?" Xhemnas asked him.

"Play my last card, Card of Sanctity, to allow us to both draw until we have six cards." Both players drew until they had six. "Then I'll place two facedowns to end my turn." Bartman's stats then returned to normal.

"You're almost there, baby!" Rachel cheered for Davis, who just chuckled at this.

"Man, doesn't she ever shut up? Anyways, it's now my move…" Xhemnas said as she draws out her seventh card. "First, I play my Spell Card, Monster Reborn, so that I can revive one Monster from my Graveyard and the one that I choose… is the one that was discarded earlier…"

"The one that was discarded earlier?" Rachel asked in confusion… until it hit her good.

"No way… are you telling me that–"

"That's right. Among the three cards that I've discarded, there's one card that will lead to your doom." she said as a card ejected out from her graveyard and she places it onto her Monster Zone. "I special summon… King Mickey Mouse!"

As she summons it, there wasn't a portal that opened up. But instead, a thud landed onto her side of the Field, which indicates that he just have summoned from out of nowhere. When he slowly raised himself up, they can see his appearance. He was actually an anthropomorphic mouse with black fur, round ears of the same color, and a thin, long, black tail, wearing a short-sleeved jacket with white lining, red pants, and very large, yellow shoes with grey backs and two orange, intersecting straps attached to the front of each shoe. He wields an odd sword, with the guard appearing to be two shooting stars and the blade being blue and decorated with stars, while the teeth is a crescent moon and a star. (5/ ATK: 2300/DEF: 1700) "Don't forget Tranverse Town's effect!"

King Mickey Mouse (5/ ATK: 2300-2500/DEF: 1700-2000)

_"Your Majesty…"_ Donald said as he bowed down quick to the mouse before setting his stance and his eye on Davis.

"Oh boy, that's just not good." Davis cringed.

_"You're telling me…"_ Bart agreed.

"Because of a successful Special Summon, I activate Mickey's effect. When he was summoned onto the Field, I can add either "Sora - Wielder of the Keyblade", "Goofy", or "Donald Duck" from my Deck to my Hand. So I'll add Sora to my Hand and summon him to the Field!" Xhemnas said as she placed the mentioned card on her Monster Zone. A portal opened and out came a boy in a black jacket, with silver pauldron-like additions to his sleeves and white lining. His undershirt is a navy blue with a red patch in the center. His pants are colored black on the outside, and a navy blue on the inside, lined with silver-white edging. Yellow straps criss-cross around his pants, held together with a black belt. The pants also featured red pockets with a black cross over them. His gloves are black on the outside and white on the inside with a yellow line running around them. He also wears large black-yellow shoes with silver soles, a zipper running across the top, and black straps holding them together with buckles here and there. On this attire was also some sort of crown-like pendant. He is also wields a similar sword like Mickey, except looking more like a key (4/ ATK: 1900-2100/ DEF: 1500-1800).

"Now for his effect. Just like Mickey, I can add Goofy or Donald Duck to my Hand so I'll bring Goofy to my Hand and play Double Summon to summon him as well." With that done, an anthropomorphic dog with black fur, droopy ears, two bucked teeth and three short hairs coming out of the top of his head, just in front of his orange hat, appears. He was wearing a sleeveless, black combat vest with grey lining and four pockets of the same color over a green turtleneck sweater with sleeves that bell out slightly and a blue arrow-shaped strap on each cuff, white gloves with a brown band around each wrist and yellow pants secured by a thick, black belt. The pants have rather large pockets and a pouch on each leg with a silver zipper. The legs of his pants have a peculiar style, with the bottom rims (which are dark orange) being pulled upward in the front by a brown strap. The dog was also wearing very large shoes which are brown with steel toes on the outside. He wielded a shield that oddly has a symbol that looked like Mickey's head. (4/ ATK: 1500-1700/ DEF: 2400-2700)

"Now before I go for the kill, I play the Equip Spell, United We Stand on Sora, who'll gain 800 ATK and DEF for every Monster on my side of the Field and I have five!" Xhemnas declared.

_"Yeah! Everyone ready?!"_ Sora said in an excited tone as his aura began to rise.

Sora - Wielder of the Keyblade (4/ATK: 2100–6100/DEF: 1800)

_"Yeah!"_ Donald exclaimed.

_"Ah-hyuck! Ready when you are!" _Goofy responded.

_"Then let's go, everyone!" _Mickey shouts before he and everyone else charged at Davis and Bart.

"Go! Wipe out his monster and the rest of his Life Points!" she commanded as they were about to end it once and for all.

"Davis!" Rachel shouted at him.

"Reveal facedown! Negate Attack!" Davis countered. "This stops your attack and ends the Battle Phase!" Every one of Xhemnas' monsters immediately stopped their pace from attacking the barrier. They had no choice but to go back to Xhemnas' side.

"I will set a facedown and end my turn." Xhemnas demonstrated as she puts down the set card.

_"WHHHAAAUUUGHHH! That rotten no good smuck! He didn't let me attack at all!"_ Donald complained.

_"Gawrsh. Don't worry, Donald; we still can do it later on…"_ Goofy assured.

_"Goofy's right. All we can do is wait." _King Mickey agreed.

"Man, that was close. I gotta start something here now." Davis said as he drew his next card. He smirked at what he got. "Well, well. Looks like this is the end."

"Huh?" Rachel and Xhemnas asked.

"In other words,...**THIS IS IT!**"

Xhemnas just laughed about his attempt before she began to speak. "You clearly did not see the terror of the situation. All of my forces are overwhelming and there is nothing you can do about it…" she threatens him.

_"But either way, I wanna see how things go!"_ Sora chirped up.

_"But we better keep our guards up… this isn't going to be pretty…"_ Mickey warned him.

"I activate another Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards!" As soon as he did, Davis grinned even wider. It was exactly what he wanted. "Alright, first, I activate my facedown, Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your face down on the right!"

"I don't think so! Activate Magic Jammer!" Xhemnas said revealing her facedown. "I discard one card to negate the effect!" She discarded and the card crackled with electricity before destroyed.

"Thanks, now that you used it up, I can do this! I play Monster Reborn to bring back Rikku!" The said Monster returned to the Field.

_"Thanks, Davis. Staying in the Graveyard is not my thing."_ Rikku thanked.

"Sorry, but anyways, guys, time to send them packing! Rikku, attack Donald and Bart, attack Goofy!" Davis declared

_"That doesn't sound good, right guys?"_ Sora began to feel uncomfortable about the matter.

_"No, it isn't…"_ Mickey said worriedly.

_"This could be our last ride…"_ Mulan added.

"This can't be?! I've planned everything well!" Xhemnas began to get panic as she knew her plan just got thrown out of the window.

"Well, you didn't plan enough! Let's go!" Davis said.

"_You got it, Davis!"_ Bart said with an excitement as they lashed out an all–out attack on Donald and Goofy, destroying the former while the latter was sent sky-high to...the sky.

_"Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hooey!" _was all heard from him before he disappeared from sight.

Real damage was delivered onto Xhemnas and wiping away the rest of her Life Points.

**Xhemnas:** 0

**Davis:** 3300

* * *

The attack that was made was enough to knock her unconscious after she tumbles down a few rolls on the ground.

"Alright! You did it!" Rachel cheered happily as the three of them engulfs into light before teleported back to the school ground once again.

"Hey! We're back to our world!" Davis pointed out. "Rachel, you better get Miss Fontaine."

"Right!" Rachel agreed as she ran to get some help as the dark aura that has been surrounding Xhemnas has finally been removed from her, reverting her back to her normal self while she was unconscious lying on the ground. She slowly opens her eyes, but not a lot before she moaned a bit due to the pain and slowly looks to her side.

"Where am I…?" she said in a low tone while looking at Davis with her blurred vision.

"You're in Duel Academy." Davis told her.

"Huh?" Xhemnas; or rather Kairi said confused. Just then some spirits appeared and they were mainly Sora, Mickey, and Donald.

_"Auughh… what happened?"_ Donald groaned rubbing his head. _"I feel like I've been hit by another Heartless again."_

_"Seems like most of us affected by this…"_ Mickey pointed out.

_"But I'm glad someone saved her from that darkness…"_ Sora said it gladly.

As Kairi trying to understand the situation, she slowly pushes herself up, only to feel pain on her stomach as she cringes in pain. "Easy, easy, don't want you hurting yourself." Without warning, she hugged him for support and it doesn't seem like she's going to let go anytime soon.

"Thank you for saving me…" Kairi began to say to him. "May I… know your name?"

"Davis… Davis Eitoku…" Davis replied.

"Davis…" she said in a low tone before she continues, "I'll be sure… to remember that… name…" those were the last words before she closed her eyes and went unconscious due to overwhelming pain that she has to bear.

_"I guess we should just let her rest for now. She's pretty much taken a toll from the darkness…"_ Sora suggested as Mickey and Donald agrees until the latter noticed something.

_"Hey...where's Goofy?"_ Donald asked.

We changed the scene to the outside of a certain house in Stoolbend, Virginia. All seems normal except for one thing...

"Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hooey!"

Thanks to the combined attack of Bart and Rikku, Goofy was sent to the skies and was plummeting towards the house, to where he crashed.

The entire front of the house was destroyed when it crashed into it, and as the house continued on, the debree from his house fell. It revealed that a certain black man was in the bathtub when Goofy crashed into his house, and when he fell, so did the debris holding up the floorboard.

"What the hell!?" Cleveland Brown screamed as the floorboard started tipping towards the ground and his bathtub started sliding. "No, no, NO, NO, NO, **NO!**" He yelled as his bathtub with him in it fell to the ground, the tub breaking in the process.

_"Excuse me, but do you know where the nearest airport is?"_ Goofy asked the naked black man.

Cleveland checked if he is all right before responding. "It's near the next town after you leave this town. Once you leave, take a left and head straight until you see it. You can't miss it."

_"Gee,_ _thanks!" _Goofy thanked Cleveland before taking the journey back to Duel Academy.


	20. Chapter 20: Dimensional Destiny

Somewhere, in an unknown disclosed location, late at night, the same strange man's voice was heard talking to Xainus…

"So… it seems Nightshroud, Skull, and Xhemnas have failed…" The voice said. "Xainus, you know what to do…"

"Yes, sir… Death shall be their punishment…" Xainus said before going through a black portal.

It was the next day and Davis slowly opened his eyes. Looking around he was still in the infirmary just for one more night after the Shadow Duel with Xhemnas (he wasn't suppose to be up until the due date, which was today), but something felt different. Someone was lying next to him. Looking to his left, he saw his now girlfriend Rachel, sleeping. They were positioned with her head on his chest and his body slightly curled around hers facing each other. Before anyone asks, no, they didn't do it. Slowly recollecting the events of last night, he smiled fondly at her. He then poked her cheek lightly, causing her to stir. Rachel slowly opened her eyes before looking at Davis with the usual smile on her face. "Morning Rach." Davis greeted.

"Morning. How's my Avenger feeling today?" Rachel asked him.

"Feeling great, with _you_ here." Davis smiled as he kissed her to which she returned. "I'm _so_ glad we confessed our feelings for each other last night. I thought I'd _never_ get it out of me."

"Yeah, me too." Rachel agreed. The next thing they knew, things are getting more chaotic later on…

All of the sudden, the door of the infirmary opened up widely and three familiar girls enter the room with not only bright smiles on their faces, but also with streamers and a mini–cake they brought along. "Jasmine, Mindy, Alexis? What's with the commotion?" Rachel asked.

"Rachel, is it true what Alexis was saying?" Jasmine asked first.

"About what?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"About you and Davis being together. What _else _could it be?! Oh my gosh, it _is_ true, isn't it!" Mindy asked, causing Rachel to blush slightly.

"I _knew_ you two were together last night! heh heh...I even have proof!" Alexis exclaimed as she took out her PDA and shows him about the two of them are on the bed together, causing Davis in a blushing state as well. Alexis then smirked mischievously as she said, "I didn't know you were really into 'that', Rachel!"

"Oh geez! We didn't do 'that!'" Rachel shouted. "We just confessed last night for crying out loud!" But she suddenly covered her mouth. "Crap…"

"Oh my gosh! Alexis was right! You two _did_ confess about each other!" Mindy pointed out, leaving Rachel blushing a bit more while Mindy was in her own fantasy land.

"Yeah, I wonder how the boys of the Academy would feel when they know you were taken away by the cute guy you call a boyfriend over there?" Jasmine grinned.

"Don't you think about it, you two," Rachel said annoyed. While her face hasn't recovered from her blushing state, her two friends continue to ask her about it.

While the commotion was happening in the infirmary, the rest of the Key Keepers and Jaden's friends enter the room to check up on Davis and the other unconscious patients. "Hey, Davis! Nice to see you up and kickin' around!" Jaden said with his usual big grin.

"You've been out for about two days, which made us, concern about it…" Bastion added. "Yeah, but it's good to see you alright after doing your thing…" Davis noticed Koji gave him a thumbs–up, which indicates that he also knew about the two, courtesy of Alexis.

"You… didn't…" Davis got out.

"Hm?" Alexis ponders for a bit before she looks at Bastion and smiles widely. "Well of course. It won't keep itself a secret for long, y'know?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Syrus asked.

"And why is there a cake on the table?" Zane added.

"If you _really_ wanted to know–" Jasmine tried to explain, only to gain a glare from Rachel which she was still annoyed about the matter, causing the two girls to be quiet.

"It's actually nothing much." Alexis calmly said before the two girls in the bed slowly open their eyes and sat up.

"Can't everyone keep your tone down? I'm trying to rest here… and my head's still dizzy…" Kairi said in her slight British accent before Maria followed up.

"W–Where am I? Why are there too many people around here?" She talked for a bit before hiding under the blanket due to her shyness.

"Well, looks like those two are awake." Bastion said.

"But seriously, what's with the cake?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, come to think of it though, I'm starving. Mind if I have it?" Jaden asked.

"Having cake for breakfast in the morning? That's not healthy." Bastion sweat dropped.

"No you can't Jaden!" Jasmine said taking the cake away.

"Why not?"

"Duh, because it's for our couple, Davis and Rachel." Mindy said.

"MINDY!" Alexis and Rachel shouted.

"Couple?" Most of the gang said in unison before looking at Davis with a confused glare, other than the ones that already knew about it… that is, until Jaden was the first one to break the confusion and the silence.

"If you guys meant for being Tag Team Champions at the School Duel, I can understand that! But why can't I have my own cake?!" Jaden complained. "This is worse than the time I went to Applebee's with some friends."

_(Cue Cutaway)_

_We cutaway to Jaden and some other people he is with (a guy and three girls) and entering Applebee's to get some dinner._

_"Hi. We'd like a table for five, please." Jaden said to the guy at the front desk, who simply started scribbling something down on a piece of paper. "Wait. Wait, what the hell are you doing? Yo-You don't-You don't need to write something down to give us a table, do you? Hey, we just want a table. Hey! Hey, are you listening!?" He was getting a bit frustrated now. "Hey, man! We just want a-"_

_He was stopped when the guy held his sign up that read "Right this way, sirs and madams."_

_Each member of the all exchanged looks at each other. "What are you? Mute?"_

_The guy scribbled something on the back of that paper that read "Yes. Yes I am."_

_"Oh. Well then, shouldn't you be on the streets with the other veterans?"_

_(End Cutaway)_

Jaden was so oblivious to this fact while the others knew about the matter as Jasmine stepped up to tell them what was _really _going on… until Alexis pulled her back and gave her a warning glare.

"Well… this is pretty much unexpected…" Zane took note. "Like the time I helped a classmate with his so-called project that nothing to do with dueling at all."

_(Cue Cutaway)_

_We cutaway to an area near the forest at Duel Academy, where Zane's classmate Griffin Peterson is filming for some apparent "Jackass" parody, while Zane himself is filming. Griffin is in an egyptian uniform and he is wrapping a plastic badger up in toilet paper._

_"And after us pharaohs die out from giving too many orders or dying of Swine Flu," Griffin said towards the camera. "We are buried in lots of wrapping paper like I am doing to this poor cat right now, and we are shoved into a cactus," He walked over to a cactus that he had planted some time ago and shoved the badger into the cactus. "Like so."_

_"Griffin, what the hell does any of this have to do with Egypt or even dueling?" Zane asked behind the camera._

_"Zane, the people at Jackass have a right to know how our great-great-great-great-great grandfathers died in an attempt to make America a free country."_

_"What?"_

_"Oh don't play dumb. Everybody knows that before America formed, everybody started out in Egypt and then slowly worked their way up the food chain to the horrifyingly free country we know today as the United States!"_

_"Griffin, I think you've been drinking again. You need help, man."_

_"Yeah, remind me never to drink before bed."_

_(End Cutaway)_

"You're one lucky man to have her as your girlfriend, Davis…" Bastion added.

"I wonder if we should spread this news to our other friends outside of this Academy." Mindy discussed with Jasmine, which she was pretty much interested about it, leaving both Kairi and Maria in a confusion.

"I don't know what's going on here, but judging by the glare, something big just happened here…" Kairi said while looking at Davis. "And I'm willing to bet it must have something to do with you…"

"Y–Yeah…" Maria agreed.

"Well, anyways, since that both of you are up now, mind if we ask you something?" Davis got up while looking at Marta as she looks at him with normal innocent eyes.

"Yes, you may ask us anything, if it pleases you, Davis." Kairi said with a smile at him. Syrus tried to approach at the shy Maria. When he was too close for comfort, Maria immediately leaps out from her bed and embraced Kairi in an instant, while Syrus was surprised by the sudden action earlier.

"Kairiiii!" Maria sobs for a bit before Kairi gently pats her head.

"There, there, love. You don't have to be scared about it…" Kairi comforts her before looking at them. "Oh, don't worry about Maria here. She's just shy… too shy to meet with total strangers and I always acted like her big sister…" Kairi explains.

"Oh, ok." Syrus said.

"So, Kairi, Maria, do you remember anything before you became Shadow Riders?" Davis asked.

"Shadow Riders?" Kairi pondered for a bit while looking at Maria, as both of them don't seem to understand about it. "Forgive me for saying this, but I don't recollect about the matter…"

"T–True! We don't remember anything about being a Shadow Rider…" Maria spoke up after gathering her courage to look at the gang while stays really close to Marta.

"Hm…" Rachel pondered for a bit before looking at Davis. "Could there be a possibility where they can't remember after joining the group and the darkness in them were released?"

"Probably. Chances could be about 50/50." Davis said.

"B–But, we _do_ remember one thing in our dream…" Maria added, gaining the attention of the gang before she hid her face onto Kairi again.

"And that would be…?" Bastion asked.

"Civil War…" Kairi spoke.

* * *

**(Cue in Climax Jump Den-Liner Form)**

**Narrator: There came a day unlike any other. A boy named Davis Eitoku appeared with an unusual Deck. Within it are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With this Deck, he will start his journey, facing enemies and befriending allies along the way.**

**jikan no nami wo tsukamaete **

**imasugu ni yukou yakusoku no basho **

**genkai mugen iza tobikome Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?! **

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**kanaetai yume ga aru nara **

**shinjinakucha negatta hibi wo**

**Catch the wave **

**mayoisou na toki kanarazu**

** omoi no tsuyosa ga michibiku **

**KIMI ga nozomu mirai sude ni In your hands**

**hajimari wa itsumo totsuzen **

**unmei wo tsurete yuku Time tripin' ride **

**fukannou koete tsukami toru sa Climax**

**kawaru koto wo osorenai de**

**ashita no jibun miushinau dake**

**dare yori takaku**

**kinou yori takaku**

**Climax Jump!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

**ii jan! ii jan! sugee jan?!**

* * *

Chapter 20: Dimensional Destiny

"Civil War… that's the dream that we kept having repeatedly…" Kairi added, causing Davis to be surprised by the matter.

"Davis, what's wrong?" Rachel asked him.

"Why does your expression seems like you've seen a ghost?" Alexis added, causing Maria to shiver at the word 'ghost.'

"Damn it… I was hoping I wouldn't tell you all about this…" Davis cringed.

"About what?" Chumley asked.

"Didn't you hear what she just said?! The Civil War!" Chazz said angrier than usual, much to everyone's confusion on the matter.

"Whoa, Chazz, take a chill pill, no need to be worked up for something like that…" Jaden tried to calm him down.

"Yeah, if you keep that sour mood of yours, I don't think the girls are going to like you…" Jasmine told him, which struck his nerves.

"And look at this poor little girl! You just scared her!" Mindy added while trying to comfort the shy Maria.

"DAvis, is there something that you're hiding from us?" Zane asked him with a stern tone.

"Any information would suffice." Bastion added.

"Well… I wouldn't exactly call it hiding…" Davis got out.

"Please tell us. We want to know what the dreams the both of us had are meant…" Kairi begged as all of the focus, minus the unconscious Atticus, are now looking at him.

Davis looked at everyone for a while until he sighed, "Alright…" And so Davis told his tale of what happened while he was unconscious. His subconscious mind led to Ben 10's world, The Plumber Base in Bellwood to be exact and there, Bartman OOO told Davis of the dark premonition he had. Davis also explained about the First Civil War where Bart was the cause of it, which led to a law called the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA) to be passed and a hunt for him that caused both friend and foes of his to fight each other for him. So Bart and some of the Avengers on his side found the true cause of the Civil War, all which were orchestrated by his sister Bartman Eternity, and did all he could before he died by her hands, leaving the world belonging to every villain until a miracle happened, ended every villains' tyranny. When Davis finished his tale, everyone was silent.

"I see… so that's what it meant…" Kairi said to herself while thinking the whole thing.

"K–Kairi, I'm scared…" Maria spoke after knowing the whole truth regarding the matter as Kairi comforts her for a bit.

"I can't believe I'm saying this Davis, but you sure are one sort of a mystery…" Zane said.

"I agree…" Bastion nodded, followed by others except Rachel, which she seems worried about it.

"If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't _get_ this kind of adventure!" Jaden perked up.

"An adventure that will literally put our lives on the line, that's what!" Chazz added.

"But, even so! We can't just point the finger on _him_! It's not _his_ fault that he wanted this to happen!" Rachel defended him.

"Rachel is right! None of this is something that he would expect!" Alexis added while staying on her friend's side. "Well, we better stop arguing about this matter and try to think on how we should stop the Shadow Riders and this Civil War that he stated before…"

"How _could_ we?! Davis said so himself. It's inevitable that it's going to happen!" Chazz argued. The whole room went silence once again, filled with thoughts on how to prevent the war from happening again.

"May I suggest something?" Zane asked, gaining everyone's attention. "Let's get our mind off from this Civil War for now and focus on saving the missing students from the Shadow Riders… if there are any left…"

"I agree with him. Just thinking about this war might lead us nowhere if we don't know _how_ to stop it…" Bastion added.

"Yeah… you guys get going. I… need some time to think…" Davis said.

"Davis…" Rachel said as she felt worried for him as everyone agreed before going back to their classes except for Kairi and Maria who needed some rest.

"Rach, I'm scared…" Davis said as he was actually trembling holding himself.

Rachel couldn't help but wrap her arms around the trembling Davis to calm and comfort him. "Don't worry, Davis. You're not alone. We'll think of something to make sure the Civil War will occur without any one dying… I promise…" she ensured. Davis could only nod as her grip tightened.

* * *

And so the day went by without incident as classes went by smoothly. To get their minds off of the Civil War and stuff, the Key Keepers have been focusing on their school work; surprisingly Jaden was for once focused on something like this. And school work wasn't usually his forte.

At this time, night has already fallen. A puff of purple smoke exploded and out of it came a figure. This was Xainus. He stood at the entrance of the main Academy building with a Duel Pilot in his hands. "It is time…" He recorded a message.

Banner was sitting in his room, watching a something static–y like before he took the kids to the Gravekeeper ruins. He was in conversation with whatever it was on the monitor…

"But you said…!"

**"Now Banner, if you want what you seek… you **_**will**_** duel…"**

The Slifer Headmaster sighed. "Is it that time already?"

**"Unless you want my next Shadow Rider to succeed… you had better hold up your end of the bargain first…"**

"So he's coming after all… when?"

**"Now…"**

And at that point, Banner's Duel Pilot beeped and a video message was being played. It was Xainus.

_"To the Key Keeper of my next opponent. I heard everything from the Shadow Realm and it seems like you have taken down the three of them, the Slayers. And I must say, I congratulate you all for defeating them,"_ Xainus said while clapping a few times before a big clap silence it and continued to speak, _"…but let me remind you all this; they were just the pawns of our Shadow Riders. Since we haven't got any luck recently, 'he' decided to send out the higher ups in order to retrieve the Keys in order to open up the seal once again. And so, I challenge you to a duel for our next match. Be sure to meet me at the lake in the forest… and don't be late because I'm sure there are more Shadow Riders that will hunt them down and force them to a duel unless we dueled first…"_ the message ended with a slight chuckle from Xainus.

"This must be my calling now…" Banner said to himself. Banner stood up and took his Deck and duel disk. He then turned to his cat, Pharaoh who was sleeping and dreaming of catching fish which was evident when he started moving his paws like he's actually trying to catch fish while still lying on his side. Banner could only chuckle at this smiling sadly before kneeling down and stroking his fur. "Stay safe, my friend…"

Little did he know, the other holders of the Spirit Gate Keys got the same message as well.

* * *

"Time to go…" Zane said as he and Alexis left the lighthouse.

* * *

"Let's see how that Shadow Rider stands up to the Chazz!" Chazz left his dorm room.

"Wait for us!" Jaden shouted as he, Syrus, and Chumley followed them.

* * *

"Another Shadow Rider…" Bastion said, leaving his dorm room.

* * *

"Let's see what you're made of…" Crowler got his duel vest and walked out of his room.

* * *

Banner soon arrived at his destination at the edge of the lake in the forest. And there Xainus was waiting. "You have arrived." Xainus said.

"With the threat you sent, I couldn't refuse. I won't let you harm my students! You'll have to go through _me_ first."

"Oh? You're willing to do so for the sake of the Key Keepers?" Xainus was impressed about his actions as he continued to speak. "Do you know why I chose this place?"

"What do you mean by that?" Banner asked.

"When the Shadow Duel commences, no one will be able to escape from this forest… until one of us wins this duel…" Xainus said to him with a slight smile on his face. "And I think you should know that you're not the _only_ one who got the message I sent out earlier…"

"Professor Banner!" A voice called. Banner turned around to see Chazz, Bastion, Zane, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Dr. Crowler running up to him. When they did, Zane recognized the Shadow Rider.

"Charles Taggert?" Zane asked wide–eyed.

"Ah, if it isn't Zane Truesdale… the one that I've always looked up too. And I see you brought the whole party along with you as well…" Xainus said as he looks at them,

"Charles Taggert?! Is that really _you_?!" Dr. Crowler was surprised to see him. "Why are you here?!"

"It's been quite a while, Dr. Crowler… and as for why I'm here, I guess you can pretty much tell by the clothes that I'm wearing…" Xainus explained to them before he looks at Banner. "But like the message that I've sent before, the first one to reach here first would be the next duelist that I'll face in a Shadow Duel… and I was hoping I would face you, Zane…"

"So, that explains why Professor Banner was here in the first place…" Chazz summed up.

"Then, what about the rest of us?" Jaden asked.

"Too bad for you guys, because once you've entered this place, you can't escape from it." Xainus reminded them with a calm tone while still having a smile on his face.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's duel!" Professor Banner urged.

"Seems like you're really urgent to win… might as well do as he said… but you got to remember, this is a Shadow Duel and _anything_ can happen…" Xainus warned him before the wind started to blow hard at the area. The lake turned blood red and the whole forest was covered with darkness, leaving the moon in the sky to shine on the duel area.

"Let the duel… commence!" Xainus shouted as he placed his Deck onto his duel disk. Banner did the same thing and both players drew their starting Hands.

* * *

"DUEL!"

**Banner:** 4000

**Xainus:** 4000

"For the sake of the children and all of the Keys that will not be fallen onto such hands like yours, I will start first!" Banner said as he draws out his sixth card.

"C'mon, Professor Banner! You can win this!" Syrus cheered.

"Show that guy what Slifer Red can _really_ do and get your game on!" Jaden told him.

"I shall show him alright! And like young Jaden says, I'll get my game on! I summon out D.D. Survivor in ATK mode!" When he placed the card onto his duel disk, a portal appears to see a blonde man wearing a cloth that covered his whole body other than his gauntlet as he stood up and let the wind blew at his cape. (4/ATK: 1800/ DEF: 200)

"And then, I play Dimension Fissure! Now our cards will be removed instead of sent to the Graveyard." Banner declared as a dimension rip appears in the sky as he took out another card on his Hand. "I'll set two cards facedown and that will end my turn." Banner added.

"A Different Dimension Deck. This is going to be interesting indeed…" Bastion took note.

"Unless we know what kind of Deck Xainus holds, we don't know for sure if he can even survive this battle…" Chazz added.

"Now it's my turn." Xainus said drawing his sixth card. "I'll start by playing Double Summon, allowing me to summon Jubilee and Chamber in ATK mode!" At that point, a young man with black hair wearing a white shirt with a black jacket and a scarf covering his neck and mouth appeared (4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200). He also seemed to be a fire-breather since little flames burst out of where the mouth is supposed to be, which is also glowing a faint orange. This is Jono Starsmore AKA Chamber. Next to him was an Asian teenage girl wearing a red visor and a red and yellow suit with X's on the shoulder areas and the belt (4/ATK: 1450/DEF: 1100), Jubilation Lee AKA Jubilee.

"Jubilee and Chamber?" Banner asked in confusion.

"Ah! I think I remember what kind of Monster they are!" Crowler was surprised to see the Monster as if he just got himself a blast from the past. "The cards that Charles possess are somehow similar to Davis' Avengers! They must be the Avenger's mutant counterparts, the X-Men!"

"What?! X-Men?!" Syrus was surprised to hear that from him.

"But how did you know something like this?" Chumley asked.

"Obviously, like Davis, I so happened to read Marvel Comics for quite some time!" Crowler boasted a bit.

"And one of his Monster's already strong as the Professor's Survivor…" Chazz pointed out.

"If that's the case, he's going to face some trouble…" Zane made a conclusion of the matter as Xainus continues on.

"Now Jubilee's special ability activates. Once per turn, I discard one card, so I destroy a ATK positioned Monster on your side of the Field!"

"What?" Everyone gasped.

"Oh my, what am I supposed to do now…?" Banner was worried about the matter.

"Go, Jubilee! Show him some Fireworks!" Xainus ordered as he discarded a card from his Hand. Jubilee didn't hesitate for one bit as she generated a bunch of projectiles that look like fireworks. She then sent them onto Survivor, but instead of destroying him, the warrior was sucked into a portal, never to be seen again due to the Dimension Fissure's effect. "Now then my X-men, attack Banner with Pyronic Flash and Firework Surprise!". Before Chamber and Jubilee were about to use their powers...

"I will not take a lot of Damage now! I activate my facedown, Mirror Force! With this trap card, I can have your Monsters destroyed with ease." Banner explained.

Jono's fire attack and Jubilee's Fireworks were reflected and sent right back at them as they exploded into pixels.

"Alright! He manages to avoid taking any Damage!" Syrus added.

"Of course! He is a professor like me, after all!" Crowler added.

"He's showing the true skills of a duelist…" Zane took note as Bastion records the whole battle with his PDA.

"I can show this to Davis so that he'll know there's another one on this island and knowing what kind of Deck he's wielding at this time…" Bastion said to himself as the battle continues on.

"Impressive." Xainus grunted. "But you'll see that it was for naught soon. I play Pot of Greed to draw two new cards." Xainus drew two. "Excellent. I activate Quick Summon to Normal Summon once more and I summon Cannonball in ATK mode!" A young man with blonde hair wearing a black jumpsuit with white designs all over it and goggles appeared. This is Sam Gunthrie AKA Cannonball (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 900).

"Another X-Man?" Jaden asked.

"Yes. And this time, just to be safe, I skip my Battle Phase, place my last card face down and end my turn." Xainus concluded.

"Very well, then. I'll make my way now!" Banner declared as he draws out his next card. "And now, I can summon D.D. Warrior Lady in ATK mode!" Another portal appears and a woman in her light, slim armor appears as she wields her sword beam and takes a look at her opponent. (4/ATK: 1500/ DEF: 1600) "And then, I equip her with Fusion Sword Murasame Blade. This spell card will fuse her weapon onto her hand and she will gain an additional 800 ATK because of her being a Warrior-Type." Banner told him as the sword beam on her hand began to morph, fusing it together as her sword is changing into red beam instead of normal white one.

D.D. Warrior Lady: (4/ATK: 1500–2300/ DEF: 1600)

"Alright! He's got an advantage!" Jaden cheered as Banner made a gesture of thrusting his hand forward.

"Now, my lady will take out your Cannonball with Dimension Rip Cutter!" In an instant, Warrior Lady leaps to the front as she swings her blade at Sam, hoping to make a cut on his body.

"I think not! Reveal facedown! Negate Attack!" A barrier appears right in front of her as the blade was immediately stopped right in front of her, causing the attack to fail before she leaps back to Banner's side.

"Aw man! I thought that move will be something good!" Syrus said annoyed.

"No matter, I play Pot of Greed, so that I can get two more cards." Banner added as he draws out two more and take a good look at it. "With these last two cards from my Hand setting down, I will end my turn." Banner told him as two holograms appeared on the Field.

"Seems like someone looks desperate…" Xainus teased.

"I may look like it, but for the sake of my children, I will do whatever it takes to prevent you from taking the keys." Banner warned him.

"You got that right! There's no way we'll let someone like you take our keys!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Very well then. It's my turn now." Xainus drew his next card. "I play Card of Demise! It lets me draw until I have five cards in my Hand, but at my 5th Standby Phase, I lose my entire Hand." He drew until he had five. "Now I summon Sunpspot in ATK mode!" A man with dark hair wearing a yellow and dark–blue X-Men outfit appeared before setting himself on fire like the Human Torch, except his body glowed black while having a fiery aura around him. This was Roberto da Costa AKA Sunspot (4/ATK: 1650/DEF: 1000). "And I'll play the Spell Card, Riryoku. Not only it halves your Warrior Lady's ATK, but it also increases Sunspot with that same amount you lost!"

D.D. Warrior Lady (4/ATK: 2300–1150/DEF: 1600)

Sunspot (4/ATK: 1650–2800/DEF: 1000)

"Oh dear, this doesn't look good…" Banner sweat dropped from the comment made by Xainus earlier.

"Even if one of the Monsters gets removed from play, the other one will definitely give him large Damage…" Alexis added.

"True. I just hope that either one of his facedowns will help him out… somehow…" Bastion took note.

"Before I attack, I activate Cannonball's special ability; by discarding a card from my Hand, he can attack directly! Now go attack directly Sam, and Roberto will attack D.D Warrior Lady with Burning Impact!" Xainus ordered. Roberto and Sam glowed brighter as the former's fist started burning and the latter's lower half started igniting before charging towards Banner. Getting into his stance, Roberto charges at Warrior Lady and his fiery fist began to charge up. At the same time, Warrior Lady was also preparing her stance as she makes a dash towards him.

_"Take this!"_ Roberto declared as he releases the charged up attack as it is heading towards her, making a huge dent on her as she continued to hold on until she manages to give him a cut on him, creating a dimension rip before both of them are being absorbed into it as some of Roberto's flames manage to damage Banner and his Life Points before Cannonball charged up and tackled him with a powerful impact, making the Damage worse.

**Banner:** 750

**Xainus:** 4000

"Professor Banner!" All the students shouted as Banner kept his grip on his chest while activating his facedown.

"Since both of our Monsters are destroyed, both of them will be removed from play instead. Now I activate… Damage Condenser! With the Damage I received, I'm allowed to Special Summon… a Monster from my deck in ATK mode, but… it must be equal or lower than the Damage I received…" Banner panted having a hard time to explain as he took a few more breathers before continuing where he left off. "And I summon… Umbral Soul!" An ant–like dragon slowly appeared from the darkness as it makes its way towards his Field. (7/ATK: 2000/ DEF: 1500)

"Hmph. Very well then. I'll place two facedowns and end my turn."

Banner grunted in pain as he recovered from Xainus' double mutant attack. _'Wow…'_ He thought as he stared down the X-Man Monster before him, _'His monsters possess incredible power… But I must keep fighting… I cannot quit. My students are counting on me.'_ He then gently gripped the Spirit Key around his neck before saying, "It's my turn again! I draw!" Pulling the card from the top of his Deck, he smiled as he saw the card he drew. "This will do nicely." Looking back to Xainus, he said, "I sacrifice my Umbra Soul in order to Tribute Summon my White–Horned Dragon in ATK mode!" As the dark creature disappeared, flying out of a portal, came a powerful red dragon with one large white horn coming from his head. (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1400)

As the dragon let out a roar, Xainus eyed him as Cannonball took up a defensive stance. "Your Monster is pretty tough, I grant you, indeed."

* * *

At the infirmary…

Davis and Rachel were watching it from the former's PDA. Banner was still smiling which made Rachel confused. "Davis, why does Professor Banner look unconcerned about the fact that his Life Points are."

The Avenger Duelist smiled at his girlfriend as he said, "It won't be for long."

* * *

Back at the Duel…

Right on cue, Banner said, pointing to White–Horned Dragon, "I activate my dragon's special ability! I can remove from play up to five Spell Cards from your Graveyard to increase the ATK of my White– Horned Dragon by 300 for each card!" Kurenai visibly flinched at this announcement as Banner continued. "Therefore, I will send your Riryoku, Card of Demise, Quick Summon, and Pot of Greed into a different dimension to boost my dragon's power by 1200!" The four said cards appeared and a dimension rip opened up in White-Horned Dragon sucking the four cards in it before it closed up and dragon roared as power surged within it.

White–Horned Dragon (6/ATK: 2200–3400/DEF: 1400)

Bastion nodded with an approving smile as he said, "That must be an astonishing move. And the good news is that White-Horned Dragon's power boost doesn't end after the turn is over. Good show!"

Banner readjusted his glasses as he said, "Now then, White-Horned Dragon, attack his Cannonball! White–Horned Dive Bomb!" The dragon let out a mighty roar before flying into the sky. Then it flew over itself, flying straight down at Sam. The X-Men flew into the sky, ready to break through the beast but failed, his impact against it had no effect due to the tough scales before being impaled by White–Horned Dragon.

**Banner:** 7500

**Xainus:** 2300

Xainus gave an angry grunt as he said, "I activate my facedown, Call of the Haunted! When a Monster on my side of the Field is destroyed, I can immediately Special Summon it back to the Field! So Cannonball, return to me!"

On the Field, the ground shook before something burst right out of it. Cannonball had returned, ready for another round.

Chumley groaned as he said, "Oh, man… Not lishus! He just destroyed that thing."

Zane then said, arms crossed as he watched the battle, "True, but at least Banner was able to damage Xainus somewhat. Besides, his White–Horned Dragon is still far more powerful than Xainus' X-Man.

Sighing, Banner said, "I place one card facedown then and end my turn. Your move again, Shadow Rider."

"Very well. It's my turn." Xainus drew his next card making his Hand at three. He chuckled at what he got. "Hahahahaha… Hahahahahahahaha… Hahahahahahahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone looked on with great fear as they saw Xainus's face and heard his chuckle. "Wha–What? What did he draw!?" Alexis asked fearfully.

"Oh boy…" Jaden said.

* * *

At the infirmary…

"Your gloves is glowing." Rachel said.

"Yeah. So strong…" Davis answered.

* * *

Back at the Duel…

"It looks like this is the end! You lost! I play the Spell Card, Tremendous Fire! Of course I would lose 500 Life Points but you lose 1000, more than enough to end this Duel!" Xainus explained in triumphant.

Banner couldn't believe it. It was over. He turned to Crowler and the students who were looking in horror. "Crowler, children… protect the keys… the rest is up to you." Banner smiled sadly.

"It's time to end this!" Xainus yelled.

All the students looked on in horror as flames engulfed the Duelists, although Banner was more in the fire than Xainus.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" The students all cried out, Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley trying to run towards Banner to save him, only to have Alexis, Chazz, Zane, Bastion, and Crowler holding them back.

**Banner:** 0

**Xains:** 1800

* * *

When the flames burned away after the attack, all that was left in Banner's place was a burnt up circle on the ground where he stood… and his Spirit Key dangling from Xainus' hand.

* * *

At the infirmary…

Davis and Rachel could only looked in horror, the latter having her hands over mouth with tears streaming down her face.

"No… Professor Banner…" Davis said in horror.

* * *

Back with the group…

The group couldn't believe it, Banner was gone. Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley dropped to their knees; Alexis was crying burying her face in Zane's chest, and the latter Crowler, Bastion, and Chazz in disbelief. "One down, ten to go. And that wasn't really my best. I think my work here is done for now." Xainus smirked as he opened up a dark portal and went in. The dark portal soon closed leaving the group.

"Professor Banner… he's gone…" Syrus cried tear streaming down his face.

"It can't be…" Bastion got out.

Jaden looked at where Banner last stood and had his head down, his hair covering his eyes. He was trembling, his fists shaking, tears streamed down his face, and then he lifted his head to the sky, his eyes closed and shouted,

"PROFESSOR BANNERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !"


End file.
